The Way, the Truth and the Life

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him”

John 14:1-7

I remember going to a beach with my parents when I was small. There was what felt to me like a long track from the car park, and on the way back my parents went ahead, allowing me to walk back up on my own. I thought it was straightforward, but perhaps it was farther than I remembered, and I made it part way up before fear set in that I might be lost. It was one of those moments of panic – perhaps not rational, but very real to me. Not sure of the right way, not sure what to do.

A stranger heading down to the beach saw my distress, spoke with me, and led me back up to the car park and to my parents, and there was such relief and gratitude in me for the kindness they showed.

I love this passage, because it recalls that same worry. Jesus is going away – his followers won’t see him for a while. Don’t worry though, you know the way to where I’m going – and Thomas blurts out the words on all of their minds – “but we don’t know the way!” Jesus has so often shown their ideas to be misguided that you can understand the panic. If he’s not there to set us right we’ll get lost – and what then?

And Jesus’ answer is so perfect: it’s okay Thomas. All you need to know is me.

I don’t know what it will be like to die. I don’t know what that feels like – how your soul disconnects from your body, what we might see or hear. If it were left to me I would be in the same panic I felt on that path from the beach. But Jesus’ promise is to be the one who leads you throughout your life – and that when that moment comes, you need not fear your own sense of direction. He will be the first to greet you, before the first hint of fear that you’ve lost your bearings. He will take you by the hand and lead you into glory. He will be with you, and you need not be afraid.

I write this with tears in my eyes as I think of Ali – deep sorrow at her death, but far more that, utter and overwhelming gratitude that Jesus our saviour was with her throughout. As we spoke of the cancer and what might happen he was preparing our hearts for unthinkable possibilities. As her thinking grew muddled in her last hours he was with her bringing reassurance and peace. The lion by her bedside with tears for our grief and his muzzle resting against her. As her body gave up, in that very instant he was gently leading her into paradise – no fear that she might miss her step. “I will come and take you to be with me – that you also may be where I am.”

She’s with him. There is no better place. I can’t follow yet – but he’ll come for down the years when he’s good and ready, and there’s no fear in that road for me. As a child he sent a stranger to help me find my way. It’s no stranger who will guide me into the next life, but my friend, my brother, and my lord.

The world says you have options, you choose for yourself and it all works out in the end. Jesus says there is only one way. One true version of events, one path to eternal life. Does it surprise you that this would be the case? Or is that not the way with everything else? There’s one real, actual version of history. There’s one true answer to all the questions of science, even if we don’t know them all yet. Of course there can only be one true God, one way to make peace with him, one way to please him, one true religion and one single path to Heaven – and it all goes through Jesus.

Read John’s gospel. Go and visit your local church – if you’re not sure which to try, get in touch with me on the contact page and I’ll happily see if I can find one in your area. But above all look for Jesus. You don’t need to be lost any more. He is waiting for you.

The Resurrection and the Life

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

John 11:25-26

Everybody dies. Some don’t even get to be born first – but almost everyone who lives must one day die. Almost everyone.

Thinking about dying doesn’t have to be morbid. For most of history, early death has been much more common and death much more a part of life – not hidden away in hospitals and funeral parlours but experienced and felt and mourned in homes and communities. With modern medicine we begin to feel anything can be cured or managed, that death will wait for most of us until our twilight years – then what death is left we often hide away. Out of sight and mind, because we don’t like the questions it forces us to think on.

Do you know you’re dying? Does it affect how you live? Do you know what will come after? Paradise, nothing at all, sweet release or an endless dreamless sleep? Is there fear of the unknown, whispers of a cruel afterlife or nagging doubt?

Jesus wants to answer your doubts with certainty, simplicity, and hope.

Certainty – because he not only tells us about what comes after death, he demonstrates an authority over death that puts our fears to rest. Weeping over the death of his friend Lazarus – for the suffering death causes all of us, Jesus stood at the dead man’s tomb in John 11:38-44. Four days dead in a hot climate, the body already beginning to decompose. Jesus calls out to his friend, and Lazarus steps out of the tomb. God speaks, death bends it knee.

Then Jesus himself walked through death – executed on the cross, dead without question. Three days later, in John 20 we read of a second empty tomb as once again, God speaks and death must bow before him. But unlike Lazarus who would one day die again, Jesus returns with a body that’s forever beyond death’s reach. In Acts 1:9 he returns to Heaven, and his followers begin to live lives that can only be explained by the death and resurrection of their saviour.

Jesus answers our fear with simplicity because he doesn’t point us to a system, a set of rules or a moral code to gain life after death. He says it’s him. He’s the resurrection, he’s the life. Get to know him. Come and listen to what he says, begin to follow him. What must we do to be saved? Do everything he says to the letter? Too complicated. John 5:24 says:

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”

Believe that Jesus is who he said he is. Following his other commands comes later; the simplicity and generosity of God is that right from the start, when you believe that Jesus died to pay the price for your sins, and rose to give you eternal life with him, you are saved and you have it.

He brings hope, because death comes for all of us, but Jesus has conquered death for all who believe in him. To the thief on the cross who died beside him, Jesus answered the man’s faith with a promise that was ringing in my ears as I said goodbye to my wife Ali: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). Paul, imprisoned as he wrote Philippians, states that for him, to live is Christ and to die is gain. And then in 1 Corinthians 15:51 he writes this:

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

Not everyone will die, because one day Jesus is going to return like lightning across the sky – thunderous, unexpected, glorious – and terrifying for those who don’t already know him. Get to know him now. He is hope, he is satisfaction, he is forgiveness and mercy and peace. He is the word and the light, victory over darkness and death and bright promise of a better place than this. He is the resurrection and the life. Come and get it.

I am the Good Shepherd

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10:11-15

In the last post, we looked at Jesus as the gate for the sheep. The one through whom we enter into fullness of life, and eternal life. Then almost in the same breath in John chapter 10, Jesus changes metaphor to say that he’s not only the gate, but he is also the good shepherd.

He’s utterly good, and he’s always with you.

There’s plenty of good grazing around. I would say that for Ali and me, it felt like we were in a fairly sweet spot. We certainly had frustrations and challenges, but there was money to live on, a good home, healthy children and some great friendships forming after moving to a new town. Good grazing can disappear almost overnight though – jobs can evaporate, health can escape you, calamity has a way of finding us seemingly out of the blue.

But while money and position and career and health and everything else can be plucked from you at random, no one can ever take the shepherd away from you. He knows his sheep and his sheep know his voice. He’ll never go so far ahead that you can’t follow, he’ll never leave you behind. A true shepherd cares for the whole flock. He doesn’t run when danger threatens the sheep – he puts his own life in harm’s way to defend them. Jesus is so utterly committed to you that he willingly gave up his life on the cross to bring you out of death and into eternal life with him. He laid down his life for the sheep.

He loves you. He’s with you. He’s proven it beyond question at the cross, and because he came back from the dead he now always lives to lead and to guard and to guide you through every field and valley and pit that you find yourself in. A loving, invincible, immortal, committed, good shepherd.

As the gate for the sheep, Jesus grants you access into the field that puts all other fields to shame. But the reason that field is so worthwhile is entirely because Jesus the good shepherd is there with you. The reason that the second field beyond this life is so sweet is because Jesus is there. There’s a day coming when the shepherd will return in glory – when every field will be made new, every acre of the whole of creation will be a paradise beyond compare, and the reason it’s so beautiful is because the shepherd will be there with us.

It says in Isaiah 53 that we all like sheep have gone astray – we’re all in need of a shepherd. Come and put yourself in the care of the one truly good shepherd. Come and discover that he can lead you by still waters even when your world’s in a spin. That he’ll let you lie down in green pastures when you can’t find rest. That he can restore your soul. Come and see how he can lead you in the right paths so your foot doesn’t slip. See how, even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death you need fear no evil if he is with you.

Come and follow him – and in following you will find that, even though all else might be stripped away, you are able to say, ‘Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.’

Lead on, good shepherd. Lead on.

I am the Gate for the Sheep

John 10:7-10 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.They will come in and go out, and find pasture.The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Sometimes the grass really is greener on the other side.

Imagine you’re a sheep. You live in a sheepfold with a few gates, and each leads to different fields. Some are full of grass and daisies, some are pretty weedy – often you’re stuck in the weedy field while the other sheep are allowed to enjoy the grass. Sometimes you get to spend weeks in the best fields! None of it is actually all that satisfying. You eat, you sleep, you do it again. Sometimes wolves and thieves take your friends away, and you’re wounded yourself from time to time. You have a long standing crush on an attractive ewe (Baarbara) who does not return your affections. One of your front legs has an ache that never really goes away.

One day, a new gate appears. It wasn’t there before. The field beyond is a strange one. There’s enough grass – not as much as some of the fields you’ve been in before, but enough. By the end of the day it’s all gone – sometimes your stomach feels like it could have done with a daisy or two more, but you’re satisfied, and in the morning the grass has returned. Something else – where the other gates are open or shut to you on any given day, this one is always open. You might go back into the best fields, or even the weedy ones, but it’s the days you spend in the new field that leave you feeling most contented.

Wolves and thieves appear to be just as much of a threat in the new field too. You’re not sure, but there may even be one or two more wolves that visit there. Your leg still hurts, and Baarbara has become downright hostile. The new field is not without the dangers of the old, but there is a peace and a freedom that hangs heavy in its air.

But what’s most interesting of all though is the second gate. There’s a high wall at the end of the new field, and a solid gate in the centre. You can’t see over it, but there’s a smell that comes from the other side that’s sweeter than anything even the best fields have offered. It would almost be worth spending all your time in this field purely to be closer to that scent. You’ve seen a number of sheep go through – mostly older, although a couple of lambs and younger ones – each time you haven’t been able to quite make out what’s beyond, but there’s a rumour amongst the others that there are no wolves there. You’ve certainly never heard any howling from that direction – if anything you sometimes feel you can almost hear the calling of a half-remembered shepherd.

How can you watch the life of someone you love seemingly come to an end? How can you face your own mortality without fear or uncertainty?

Jesus says that he is the gate for the sheep. He is the way into a different kind of field. It’s not a field without sorrow. It’s a field just as punctuated by suffering and discomfort as any you may have known, and in all honesty if you choose to enter by this gate you may find it opens you up to additional pains. But it’s also a field that brings meaning and freedom and satisfaction to life. A field where there is enough to meet your needs, to cure you of your excesses and find that most elusive of prizes: fullness of life. 

More than that though, it’s also the field in which we catch the scent of the field beyond – and Jesus is the gate into that field too. The final gate through which no suffering, pain or heartache can follow you. The final gate into paradise, and a fullness with which no field on Earth can compare. If you choose to enter by the first gate now – trusting in Jesus, following him – then the second gate will be open to you when your life here comes to an end. If you don’t go in by the first gate now, the second gate will be forever closed to you.

There is so much you can put your hope in now – different religions, human goodness, vague assurance that there must be something else beyond this life – but Jesus is clear in what he says: all those other hopes are like thieves and robbers that come to steal and destroy. There is one gate, one God, one option to find your way into the field where fullness of life lives, and it is Jesus.

All this, and we haven’t even spoken yet about the best part – because the best thing about this gate, and the field it leads to, is the shepherd. We can talk about him next week.

 

The Light of the World

John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Even a little light overcomes the darkness.

Darkness is an absence – it reigns where the light doesn’t shine – but even a single match in the deepest cave will drive it back. Darkness can only persist while the light is absent, and there is absolutely nothing it can do to extinguish the light when it appears.

Without Jesus I would absolutely be in the dark right now. Uncertain about my future, fearful for my children, distraught over the tragedy of death, and incapable of seeing how any of it can be made up for. But much more than the immediate pain, fear and loss, I would have no certainty about life after death, no certainty as to where Ali is now, and no certain consolation to offer my kids. Without him the world would feel very dark, and I honestly don’t know what the light at the end of the tunnel would be.

But Jesus is the light of life to me, and to my family.

He is the light at the end of the tunnel, the promise of a certain hope in Heaven and of a day when there will be no more tears and no more death, when he returns to make all things new. He is the bright light of hope for Ali, that she has not lost out by ending her race early, but that she has gained all by following Jesus to the very end of the road. He’s the rising sun who tells us that those who love him are never lost, that we will be reunited one day in glory.

Jesus is the light to my feet, teaching me to walk with courage, honesty and faith through the valley. He’s the one who shines a light into my heart to show me that there is a way through, that there is still such joy to be found in him and in his kingdom. When I look into the world and see darkness – evil at work, death and injustice, he’s the light that shines into it, who drives the darkness back, who can never be put out. And we who walk with him carry his light with us so that others might feel its warmth and glow as well.

If you’ve never been in the light, it’s an alien and uncomfortable thing. You may fear its heat, it may blind you to begin with. Perhaps you’re comfortable in the dark – who knows what ugliness the light might expose when it falls across your life? But Jesus is not the light of death. He isn’t the light of condemnation, or criticism. He isn’t the light of pain or shame or guilt. He isn’t the light of hypocritical religion. He is the light of LIFE. On the cross he willingly gave up his life and took on all of our darkness, so that through his death and resurrection the darkness could be driven back and his light and life could pour out into the world, and into your life, to give eternal life to you.

Come to Jesus and you need never walk in darkness again. Come to him and find the light of life.

The Bread of Life

The last couple of months, I have been leaning hard on my faith in Jesus. Since my wife Ali’s death in September my family has been supported amazingly by family, our church and friends, for which we are enormously grateful. At the same time, there is no other person who can do what Jesus claims, and it is only in him that I have found the very deepest hope and comfort.

I’d like to pick out seven huge statements that Jesus makes in John’s account of his life. I’ll be illustrating each of them in the hope that you will find in his words something of the wonder of what he says, and the riches that can always be found in him.

John 6:35 ‘ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

I am not feeling content right now.

We are missing Ali – as a wife, a mum, a daughter, sister, friend. There is an ache and a hole – for me I’m missing the person I knew best, my closest friend. I’m missing her company, being able to tell her the little details of my day, missing her help and support with the house and children, missing touch and intimacy.

If I could ask for anything, what would it be? My wife back? That relationship restored?

In John chapter 6, Jesus takes pity on a hungry crowd, and multiplies one boy’s lunch to make sandwiches enough for more than 5,000 mouths. The people understandably continue to follow him around, and Jesus remarks:

“… I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you…”

I’m finding that I can look for satisfaction in a bunch of different places – in food, the tv, in video games, on the internet, on Instagram – and with almost any of those things I often find myself over-indulging, because it’s never fully satisfying. One more episode, another helping, another hour… I often finish up feeling either underwhelmed, or like I’ve overdone it.

Even with the thing that I could want most just now – to see and to hold my wife again – is something that would satisfy profoundly – but I believe God is wanting me to see that even that satisfaction wouldn’t last. Like the last solid meal that filled you up, but leaves you hungry again by the morning, there’s nothing that can truly satisfy us and keep us satisfied forever.

Except for Jesus.

Jesus says he is the bread of life. Look for your heart’s desires in him first, and you will find a source of life that will fill you up – that will never run dry, that will never go stale, that will never leave you feeling overfull.

How does that work? I’m choosing to spend more time with God than I have done previously – partly because some of those other things just don’t seem so important just now, but also because I’m taking him at his word that I will find in him more of that real and lasting satisfaction. So – less tv, internet, games – and more time talking to God, reading the Bible and seeing what he says to me through it. Instead of some of the other podcasts I would listen to while working, I’ve been listening more to worship music and to some different preaches.

And just like Jesus promised, as I do so I’m finding fresh peace, joy and comfort. As I spend more time in his word my head is filled with all the promises he’s made. I find hope of eternal life in paradise with him (Luke 23:39-43). I find acceptance in his outrageous, unchanging love (Romans 5:8). I find purpose in a life lived to love others and give him glory, and I find comfort in the promise that he can take care of all of my needs (Matthew 6:25-34) – whether for food or friendship or anything else.

In the valley, I’m finding that the more I look to him for my heart’s needs, the more deep and lasting contentment fills my heart. I’m missing my best friend, but finding there is a better friend still in him. Perhaps I can’t always hear him laughing at my jokes, but then to be honest Ali didn’t laugh at many of them either.

It still hurts, it’s still hard going, it’s still early – but I tell you this, I don’t believe there’s any better bread to be had.

God bless you, and may you find eternal satisfaction in Jesus Christ.

Dan

The Awful, the Wonderful Cross – Part 3

Continuing my very regular posting schedule, here’s part 3. I’ve spent some time putting the whole thing into a video, which you can see here:

I would love to keep making work like this, but finding the time is a challenge. if you would like to see more of this kind of content, you can help by supporting us over at our Patreon page (click here).

The Awful, the Wonderful Cross – Part 2

Early last year I wrote a poem as part of a preach on Galatians 6. I illustrated the first part of it in May and you can find it here. This is the second part of three, and I’ll hopefully get the final section up in the next couple of weeks.

I’d like to try and put it together as a video with narration once it’s all done, though I’m not sure I can cobble together a backing track for it apart from perhaps some tuneful humming! Let me know what you think, and whether you want to see more work like this.

I’ll leave you with this passage from 1 Peter 2:24:

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Can God do better than Destiny 2…?

I have spent a fairly stunning amount of time playing video games.

If you’re not into games, this might go a little over your head. If you are, perhaps you’ll see where I’m coming from. I have sunk extensive hours into gaming, across console and pc. Some have hooked me with a good story – others the story is filler to engaging gameplay. Still others have grabbed me with strong multiplayer, either fighting against other people, or working together either online or split screen on the same sofa.

I’m now 30, with a wife and two children, and while I still dip into games now and then, I simply don’t have the time to sink the hours and hours into them that I used to. And to some extent I feel… like I’m missing out?

Now understand me here – because I don’t think that I personally ought to spending more of my time playing games – but I do want to try and tease out what makes them so attractive to me, and whether I can’t find those same pulls doing something of a little more eternal value.

Case in point, Destiny 2 has just come out, and it is so very appealing to me. It’s a first person shooter in a science fiction setting, and although satisfying to play on your own, what’s most engaging is the multiplayer aspect – teaming up with other people to complete missions together, explore, and muck about. Over time you get stronger, gain new abilities and weapons, and work together to make your way through challenging and complicated battles. The reward for doing so is both the satisfaction of a hard won fight, and the loot that drops from the bosses along the way – stronger guns, better armour and unique items.

If you’re not into gaming, you might struggle to see the appeal – but essentially it’s combining the camaraderie of team sports, the aesthetic appeal and adventure of exploring imagined worlds and exotic locations, and the mercenary hook of accumulating treasure – both for your own satisfaction and for bragging rights with fellow collectors.

I look at all that and it tugs at something in me. I want to explore these environments, see these events, amass that electric loot and laugh about our shared adventures with my friends afterwards. But at the same time, the game is designed for you to pour hundreds and hundreds of hours into it as you make your way through its missions and various game modes – often repeating parts many times in search of rare items and valuable drops. There is no way I can justify the amount of time I would gladly spend playing a game like this – but I’m left with a longing for the kind of experience it offers.

So what’s to be done?

If there’s something in a game that leads to some yearning in me, it’s worth wondering whether there isn’t something in life that it’s simulating. Why do I have those desires, and how did God intend for them to be met? I’d like to consider a couple of those attractive qualities Destiny 2 and games like it carry and see where it leads.

Fighting and winning together

It’s a huge draw to be part of something bigger than yourself. Winning through tough fights together – whether in the board room, the basketball court or the battlefield – creates lasting memories, strengthens bonds of friendship and gives you something you can collectively talk about, laugh about, console one another in afterwards.

As much as I could happily spend hours with friends blasting through missions online, the Bible tells us that the church is engaged in something much more profound, much more worthwhile, and much more spectacular. In Matthew 28, Jesus gives us a commission to share the gospel. It’s a mission that will require discipline, sacrifice, suffering and cost – alongside great joy – to see through. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we’re in a fight – not one against people, but against spiritual powers. It’s a fight that we’re in together, brothers and sister in arms with the body of Christ around the world, and most tangibly with those in our local church.

The Christian life is warfare – and the better we see that, the less we will crave adventure digitally or anywhere else. There is more than enough excitement to be had in pursuing Jesus – seeing the sick cared for and healed, the lonely brought into community, the unloved introduced to a church that carries the Father’s love, and in turn to the Father himself. The battles aren’t typically flashy and colourful – and unlike in the games, they’re rarely over in a couple of hours. But the instant gratification of winning a mission online pales in comparison to the joy of fighting alongside Christian brothers and sisters and seeing the victories Christ leads us to.

Exploration

Even if you don’t fancy visiting another planet, the appeal of travel and exploration is something most of us can relate to. As with films, games can grant us access to places we might never be able to go otherwise. Whether it’s visiting remote parts of the world, or transporting us to entirely fictional locations. Many films and games have created believable, interesting worlds, some beautiful and some appalling – I think of Avatar, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Star Wars and Halo as only a tiny handful. Games like Destiny allow us to explore remote, exotic, fantastic settings from the comfort of our homes and a very modest price.

I’m not quite sure what the comparison is here – we can certainly still travel and play games to some extent and enjoy that sense of exploration while honouring God. Perhaps it’s just that as a Christian I’m a pilgrim in this life. Like Abraham, I’m looking forward to the city with eternal foundations, the kingdom built by God which defies human power to describe (Hebrews 11:10). I’m waiting for the day when Jesus returns, when all Heaven and Earth is made new. I see the wonderful places people have dreamt up in creative works, but however enticing they seem, I keep coming back to the picture John paints in Revelation 21. The New Jerusalem, the place where God dwells with humanity. Where no sin blots his creation, where nothing is spoiled by war, injustice, murder and poverty.

All the most intricately imagined locations in this life fade into insignificance in comparison with the splendour of that destination. Our explorations leading up to it will seem washed out by comparison with its vibrance. I can happily go without the time spent exploring a thousand splendid game worlds, if by doing so I might find myself one day in that promised kingdom.

Rewards

The best games know how to hook their audiences – and in the case of games like Destiny 2 it’s particularly with a drip feed of progressively better stuff. There’s always someone with better gear than you, always another rare thing you wish you had, and might find with another few hours play. Often it’s of no actual function or value – a new icon to go next to your name, a different colour for your cloak or a nicer looking helmet. All the same, it keeps us invested in a deeply addictive way.

It’s much like the desire to accumulate newer and better stuff in general – the difference being that in life, the high end things are often simply unattainable, however hard you might work. In games, anyone can get to the top stuff, as long as you’re willing to put the hours in. The rub is, that stuff has a shelf life. Destiny 2 comes out, and nobody cares about Destiny 1 anymore. There are player characters sitting there with thousands of hours invested in them – the rarest gear and most sought after equipment – and they now lie consigned to a digital museum, perhaps never to be played with again.

Jesus was all about the pursuit of newer and better stuff – shinier trinkets, exotic treasures, enviable gear – but with one key difference. In Matthew 6:19-21 he warns us not to store up treasure on Earth, where the moth and rust have their way with it, or even online, where newer and better editions will render your treasures obsolete. Instead he would have us store up treasures in Heaven.

We’re built to work for reward – but the rewards that count are those which persist into eternity. Don’t pour precious hours of your life working for rewards that will delight you for a mere twinkling – pour those hours into the service of the master, and win rewards that, though not yet visible, will outshine your digital trinkets like the midday sun outshines the glare of your warlock voidwalker’s nova bomb, and which will go on gleaming long after the sun sets on your last digital campaign.

Lord, help me to use the time you’ve given me well. At times for rest, and play, and enjoying what creative works you have inspired. Let me know when enough is enough, when it’s time to return to work – whether looking after my children, cherishing my wife, earning a living, fulfilling the great commission in any way. Let me not be distracted, but see this life with pilgrim eyes, investing in the kingdom to come.

Psalm 122: I was glad when they said to me…

We’re on the move! My wife and I have been a part of King’s Community Church Norwich for many years, but have recently felt God leading us to move to Great Yarmouth and be a part of Kingsgate Community Church. They’re both part of the same family of churches, Relational Mission

We’re convinced that God is on the move in Great Yarmouth, and we’re excited to be a part of his church, taking part in his plans. Essentially it’s what God always does – loves people extravagantly, cares for the poor, the marginalised and forgotten, heals the sick, drives out the darkness, and saves us from our sins through his son Jesus.

I was privileged to speak this Sunday just gone on Psalm 122, as part of a series looking at the church as pilgrims, following Jesus as we make our way through this life to our true home. The Psalm speaks about rejoicing – being glad that we’re a part of something greater than ourselves. For the Israelites, Jerusalem meant more than just territory – it was the basis for their identity – where the dwelling place of God was, where their king was, where they belonged, and where true purpose in life was found as the people of God.

For us – followers of Jesus, citizens of the ‘Jerusalem above’ (Galatians 4:26-27) we are glad to belong to this heavenly city. Glad to be a part of the church – where God has come to dwell amongst us by his Spirit, to redeem, refresh and empower us. Glad to be part of a community of deep belonging – where everyone is welcome, where we are united by our love for Jesus. Glad to be on the side of the true king, who guarantees the ultimate security of his people, even beyond death. And glad to find purpose in life through Jesus – living with an ultimate goal in Heaven, using what time we have to live lives of compassion, love, prayer and worship.

I’m glad to belong to Jesus’ church.