What's the Point?

Friday, March 18, 2011
What’s The Point? Have you ever had one of those moments? It seems like everything is stacked against you, nobody cares, and even your closest of friends may seemingly be aiming their cannons at you. Then the question begins to arise in your mind, “What’s the point?” You begin to wonder if it’s even worth it. I’ve even heard folks going through a hard time say things like, “I’ve got friends that aren’t Christians and they’ve seemingly got it better than me. All I ever try to do is help people and this is what I get?” Just follow me on a little journey for a moment…
He was a preacher, and a faithful servant in the church of his day. People were coming to know Jesus as a result of his work and ministry. He had a lot to live for. Yet here he is, lying outside of town with a huge mob of angry religious people crowded around him. They’ve all got large rocks in their hands, and as soon as the leader of the crowd gives them the go, those rocks all begin flying at him. He’s literally being beaten to death by stones. And as he looks up, he tells us what he sees: “I see Jesus, standing at the right hand of the throne of God.” And then the famous words just before he lies down and dies, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” He knew the point.
He was there that day and watched them kill Stephen. As a matter of fact, he was the one that gave them the go to begin stoning him. Now, at the end of his own life, he’s realized what Stephen was willing to die for. His own ministry began years earlier, and countless churches have been founded as a result. He’s preached Jesus in places where his life was threatened. He’s been beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, snake bitten, hated, and disowned. And now he’s sitting in a dark, damp, lonely prison cell awaiting the long, dark walk to the gallows where he’ll literally lose his head for the sake of the Gospel. Paul knew the point.
He calls this land his home, and has all of his life, even though it despises the Christ he’s come to give his life to. Every day he wakes up realizing that today may very well be the day his family is taken and his life is required. With that in mind, he gets up, opens up his Bible, and spends some intimate time with his Lord. He leaves his home and goes out to tell his neighbors and friends about this Jesus he’s grown to love so dearly. He knows that because he’s turned his back on the religion of his childhood, and is now labeled an infidel, his life will be short lived. But in the year 2011 on the other side of the world from where I’m writing this morning, he knows the point.
When you think it’s not worth it – when you begin to doubt the point of standing up for Him – when everyone seemingly turns against you – remember what Stephen said at the end of his life. What many today would call his “darkest hour” of life, Stephen would no doubt call one of his brightest. Because as he felt the very real pain of the stones hitting him all over and literally beating the life from his body, he saw Him. It’s so important that we realize that Stephen saw Him standing, not sitting.
When Jesus went back to heaven early in the book of Acts, Scripture says He went back to “sit down at the right hand of the throne of His Father.” But when Stephen was nearing home, Jesus was standing. Friend, in our darkest hour when it seems like everyone else is sitting on the job, we can know that our Jesus isn’t. He’s standing up, and, I believe with all my heart, He’s cheering us on. “Come on, you can do this! You’re almost here! Come on, you can do this! You’re so close – you’re almost here!”
That, my friend, is the point.

(There will not be a daily Thought from Blake next week due to Spring Break. We'll be back Monday, March 28th. Thanks for reading!)



That’s just a thought, and I welcome yours.
Until next time,
blake

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