Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.

1 Corinthians 16:13

Everywhere I turn

there is a reminder

God thought of me

in space and time and eternity.

He knew my name

He forged my place

in the vastness of history

providing a sacrifice.

Years before I would need Him

the cost of which

I’ll never comprehend

but in thankful gratefulness

in true humbleness, I accept.

 

~Marcie Bridges
©11, April 2020

 

At the end of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he exhorts us to do four things:

 

Watch

Stand fast in our faith

Be brave

Be strong

 

In the chapter before this (1 Corinthians 15), Paul explains to us why it is important Christ’s resurrection happened. Basically, in a nutshell, he tells us, if Christ had not risen from the dead, then our faith is also dead. Believing Jesus rose from the dead is the single most important aspect of our faith.

 

Sure, there were others who also came back to life. But, each of those individuals died again. However, Jesus Christ not only rose from the dead, He continues to live today. And that, my friends, is what makes our Christian faith so phenomenal.

 

I love that we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. Yet, His rising could not—would not—be possible without His dying.

 

Think about this. When Jesus hung on that cross for our sins, He not only died for our sins past, present, and future; but, He had the weight of every single sin on Him from every single person in the past, in the present, and in the future. Every. Single. One.

 

He was thinking of you on that cross. He was thinking of me on that cross. Years and years before I (and you) would ever need His sacrifice, He knew our names and our sins and there He paid for every one of them. For every one of us.

 

So now, Paul tells us to take our faith of Jesus’ resurrection, and be strong in it. Be brave in our working of it. Show others who we serve, why we serve Him, how to serve Him, and why we should serve our risen Savior. (But be sure to do it in love. Not hateful or arrogant.)

Stand fast in your faith. Do not waiver from it. Do not get side-tracked. Do not be double-minded. Know what you believe and why you believe it. Then hold fast to your faith and love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul.

 

It really doesn’t matter if we are in perilous times or if we are in the greatest of all seasons in life. As followers of Christ, we need to stand fast in our faith, be bold, be brave, be strong.

 

And your work in the Lord will not be in vain.

 

From My Heart to Yours,
Marcie 🙂