It's been about a year since I wrote a blog, and I have a lot of things to do right now. But this is important.
Yesterday, here in Eau Claire, it was a beautiful (though windy) 75 degree day. The first day this year that it has really felt like summer. It was wonderful. I was happy. Good weather has a way of doing that. People were outside, enjoying the day. They were playing golf, going for walks, riding their bikes, and smiling all the while. What a gift!
And I was among them. Enjoying the day.
But it's a dangerous thing! We can be such shallow creatures. I tend to be a very lazy creature. There's so much to do, but many of those things are hard. Many of those things involve work. It's easier to go play golf, then go to Caribou and drink coffee while wasting time on the internet.
But it can be much more insidious than that. The truth is that this world is not going to last. All the physical things we enjoy are only temporary. The things that are permanent are the things that we can't see - the spiritual things.
Some people are atheists. They go around the world happily (or sadly) ignoring the possibility of spiritual things and trying to make the most of this physical existence, all while hoping that when they die it is really the end.
Everyone else correctly concludes that death is probably not the end, and they have at least a vague understanding that there are some non-physical things going on. This is where the danger of good weather (and Easter baskets) comes in.
My good friend Brian paraphrased a quote to me the other day from C.S. Lewis. The quote was from "The Screwtape Letters, " which is a series of letters from a fictional demon to his apprentice demon, Screwtape. Screwtape was working hard to keep one of his assigned humans from coming to know God and from understanding who Jesus was.
But he had a problem...
Apparently his human had heard some Truth, and he was beginning to think about it. He was coming closer to knowing who God is and closer to understanding the very purpose of his existence. Our demon Screwtape was beginning to be very concerned.
He was thinking of doing something extreme, from what I understand - some sort of spiritual attack. But his teacher, brilliantly, warned him, "No. If you do something like that he is more likely to realize that the spiritual things are true - that there is really something to these things he is thinking about. What you should do instead is just remind him that it's almost time for lunch and that it's nice outside." That's the death blow.
"Just remind him that it's almost time for lunch and that it's nice outside."
How often has such a thought derailed me from doing things that are eternally important! When we focus on enjoying these physical pleasures and gifts at the expense of thinking about spiritual things, and enjoying God himself - beware!
John Piper, a famous pastor from Minneapolis, said once "The good things in life will keep more people out of heaven than the bad things." He was teaching on Luke 14:16-24 where a man hosted a great banquet and different people decide to not respond to the invitation because they just bought a field, or just bought some oxen, or just got married. These are good things, and God means for us to enjoy them! But the point is that there are much, much, more important things, and we have to get things in perspective. You have been invited! Drop your things and clear your schedule. Come to the banquet :-)
As we approach Easter you may be, like me, expecting to get an Easter basket full of delicious chocolatey goodies. And hopefully, you'll get to spend time with family and friends. Hopefully the weather will be beautiful.
But don't miss the point. The point is about God and his self-sacrificing plan to pay for our sins with the life of his only Son, Jesus Christ, who was afterwards resurrected! It's about this God that is so much more pleasurable and important than all the good things we will experience in this life put together.
His greatness literally cannot be exaggerated.
So don't get distracted by the blessings you have in this season. Don't let the enemy win by tricking you! You're capable of more than that with God's help. Spend some extra time thinking about Jesus Christ, and his resurrection, and what that means for you. Do it today!
And enjoy, but beware, of good weather and Easter baskets.
Thanks for reading.
