Today we come to the final area of life that affects us deeply: our spiritual life. And yet I'm reluctant to call it just one area of life because it is so much more than that.
Knowing God's presence in the world and his love for you personally and developing a relationship with God is not just one part of your life. Instead it is more like being given a pair of glasses that somehow bring the whole of your life into focus. An outlook that gives us a clearer view of every other area of our lives. In short it gives you a reason to live or something that 'pulls you out of bed every morning'.
'For I know the plans I have for you' declares the Lord 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future' Jeremiah 29:11 [NIV]
Those two words 'hope' and 'future' are the chief gifts of being spiritually alive. As we deepen our trust in a God who is both good and powerful so we are enabled to live in hope and confidence even when some of the other areas of our lives cause us pain.
'Future' means knowing the ending. I don't know about you but I hate to watch a film if I suspect a sad ending. Often I won't even begin to watch it until someone who has seen it already reassures me that 'it'll all turn out okay in the end'. Only with that hope in view can I handle the anxiety and tension thrown up by the twists and turns in the plot.
The resurrection of Jesus gives us all that hope and future, not just personally for own transformation but for the redemption of the whole of creation. Now there's a hope worth hanging on to.
Sheila Bridge
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