“PAUL, AN APOSTLE of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 1:1). This adds a touch to the life that is in Christ. When we are in Christ we have life. In him was life. We also have the promise of life; there is more life to follow, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). If you love life there is attached to it a ticket which says this is the first installment of more abundant life.
One of the things that kills the inner spirit is the feeling that there is no future in what one is doing. It leads to a dead end. I paused in writing one day to listen to an Indian father, our gardener, tell of his frustration concerning his son, who is in a job which has no present—and more important, no future. There is no promise in it. In Jesus everything is promising. There is at the heart of every possession a promise. There is more—and yet more, for the taking.
This sense that in Jesus there are no dead ends, that everything is open, is the most exciting thing about it. Even the grave has an open end—an open end into eternal life. Sorrow has no dead end; we can use it and make it into song. As I sit each evening in meditation and prayer beneath a pine tree, I can hear the sharp pop of a pod on a tree, like a mild pistol shot, as it breaks open. With this pop it scatters its seeds far from the tree. The breaking of your heart with sorrow may scatter the seeds of your victory into other lives. Everything in Jesus has promise. If I stub my toe, I fall into His arms. If I fall, I fall on my knees and get up stronger and wiser. If I lose the skirmish, it helps me win the battle. I am a child of promise—nothing static do I receive—it is just a promise of the “to be.” All His promises are life.
Dear Lord, there is a tingle of expectancy in being in Thee. Every little thing is big with destiny. Every gift is but a promise. I feel the outreach. The future beckons. It is filled with Thee, and in Thee is Life. I thank Thee. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: There is the promise of life in everything if I know how to find it and use it.
