As we journey through life we’re bombarded with many offers. Bargains for sale, items we’re told we simply just can’t live without, incredible once in a life time opportunities which, if missed, may never come again. Never underestimate the power of a good sales person. I remember vividly on one occasion many years ago, listening to an individual on the street. He was selling, of all things, a small slicer for chipping potatoes and vegetables. He believed in his product, was enthusiastic, and had a real rapport with the sizeable crowd he had gathered seemingly from nowhere.
As he finished speaking I watched the people being drawn in as he closed the net and then I watched as a large section of the crowd lined up almost robotically, weak minds surrendered, to pay and take home this incredible invention, fully convinced their life depended on it. As I walked away from that crowd....... with my chipper under my arm!.......I realised I too had been taken in by the promise of homemade chips in an instant......any time of the day......or night! Well what could I do? I’m convinced I had smelt them while he talked! That’s the power of sales. Sadly I have to say that device never quite worked for me the way it did for the guy who demonstrated it.
After fifty years I have discovered that, “if something seems too good to be true,” that’s usually because it is! That’s a simple rule of thumb which I have to say I’ve learned the hard way. A rule of thumb which applies fairly well across the board, with one major exception, that I feel I want to emphasise this Easter time. The exception to the rule is when God is at work.
When the God of the Bible is involved we must never forget that the impossible really does becomes possible! What He offers, if we stop to consider it, can appear almost too good to be true. It’s here that our natural thinking, trained by bad past experiences and human reasoning can fail us and rob us of the blessings God longs to give us. Always remember when Jesus is involved the parameters that usually govern life don’t always have to apply. In fact they rarely do.
Take for example the possibility that, the Creator of the Universe might be interested in you. Add to that the concept of a love so pure and a forgiveness so complete that it totally wipes out your past and removes every, yes every, barrier that would impede your relationship with that very Creator. Couple that with the teaching that this very God wants to live within you, so that you are never out of His presence, never away from His care and are perpetually exposed to His abundant favour and transforming power. Tack on the reality of what it means to be in Christ’; namely, that everything that happened to Jesus physically has already happened to us spiritually. We are already crucified with Christ, raise with Him to a whole new life and seated with Him in heavenly places.
That means that sin’s power is already broken in our lives and we are already freed from its control and destructive influence. A new principle is at work within us and we have been given the ability to say no to sin and live a new life in the power of the Spirit. Add to these amazing things, heaven for all eternity and it all appears just way too good to be true. Yet this, and a whole lot more besides, is New Testament Christianity. Exactly what is offered to us by the death and resurrection of Jesus: The life made possible for every single Christian. I wondered to what real extent we have been impacted by this incredible message of the grace of God towards us. It is incredible but it is true.
Everything around us is constantly screaming to us of the amazing abundance, generosity and creativity of God. Whether we look at the complexity and variety in nature or the sheer scale of the cosmos, it all declares that God’s power is unlimited but at the same time He is dedicated to detail, He cares, He provides, He is involved.
The Bible teaches us exactly the same and encourages us to expect His involvement in our every day lives. Can I encourage you to think outside the box a little, stretch your faith to believe for His intervention and provision as you live out your life. Eph. Ch 3:20 says, “He is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to the power that works in us”. Remember where God’s concerned, it’s not too good to be true. Never forget He delights to surprise us, to show up in unexpected ways and always responds to faith that looks upward.
