REJOICE! WE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE
John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not persih but have eternal life." God has promised us something that is truly remarkable. If we believe in Jesus Christ by accepting Him as our Lord and savior, and by surrendering our lives to Him, we are assured of eternal life. This promise was repeated in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Isn't that amazing? Here I am laboring with all the burdens in my life and all the pains in my body and my face must have looked so somber as I walk daily to and from the market to buy our daily viands and to exercise my frail body. I am always preoccupied with how I would be able to budget our meager finances to cover all our expenses not to mention the sicknesses that befell some of my kids. My second eldest has a persistent cough for over a month now. I have spent quite a sum in buying him medicines including antibiotics. And my youngest son, after a bout with cough, was hit with chicken fox. We have to isolate him so that our youngest daughter might not catch it from him. We have to transfer again because of some trouble with our old cranky landlady. With all these, my face would normally reflect the severity of our situation until I heard this sermon from our Sunday pastor- "Rejoice always, I say it again, rejoice." This was from Paul in the book of Philippians. He said this while he was imprisoned with a vision of death hanging over his head.
And why should we rejoice? Because we are assured of eternal life through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. With that He paid the full price for our sins. All we have to do is accept Him. As I meditate on this promise, my heart was flooded with exceeding joy. Yes, whatever situation we are in right now does not matter. What matters most is that we will enjoy eternal life in the blissful kingdom of our God after our earthly life is over. Now I rejoice with all of my heart.
Tags: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Rejoice, Joy, Love, Eternal Life, Grace, Salvation, Peace
Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
