Power

The message of the gospel is a message of grace, hope, and transformation. The power of the gospel stops a person in their tracks, causes them to realize their sin, and turns them to God. The gospel is not about being born into a Christian home, going through catechism, attending church, or being a good moral person. It is about life transformation.

The Book of Eli is an apocalyptic story set thirty-some years after an event decimated the earth and left a small population wallowing in depravity. While the storyline of the movie does not fit into the Bible’s description of the end times, there is a powerful theme of the “living and abiding word of God.” Eli’s “book” is the last remaining copy of the Bible, and his mission from God is to take it “west.” Nothing will stop him, not even his nemesis, who understands the power of Scripture and wants it for less than noble purposes. One does not need to watch The Book of Eli to understand the power of God’s Word.

Come out! Those are the words Jesus spoke to a man who was dead. Here’s the account in John 11:43.

Jesus has made a way to escape death, to never die. He first gave that promise to a woman grieving the loss of her brother. Today we begin following Jesus to the cross. As Jesus entered the Jerusalem area for the last time, he performed a significant miracle just outside of town. This miracle centered around a man named Lazarus—who was dead and buried. Let’s consider Jesus’ words to Martha, one of the dead man’s sisters. 

Life on earth is filled with injustice, described by the Scottish poet Robert Burns as “man’s inhumanity to man.” The oppressors come with all the power. The oppressed are left with no leverage, and Solomon repeats for emphasis that they have “no one to comfort them.” There is no denying that this life is unfair.

A bribe is defined as “money or any other valuable consideration given or promised with a view to corrupting the behavior of a person.” A bribe is anything we give to persuade or induce a certain action. And money in exchange for prestige, power, and position to gain college admission or to change the outcome of a sports game (remember the Black Sox Scandal) is always tempting for some.

Hedonism, mentioned earlier in our study through Ecclesiastes, is a philosophy of life motivated by the desire for pleasure. Hedonism believes that satisfying one’s desires is the highest good and aim of humanity. Hedonism is a life that sprints toward self-gratification. As the old beer commercial said, “You only go around once in life, so grab for all the gusto you can get.”

So, when you feel it coming on…when the anger starts working in your mind, causing your blood pressure to rise and making you want to do something or say something, you will most certainly regret…pray for God to take control of your heart. It takes a person of discipline and the power of God to control the temper.

We must teach our children the power of words from their mouths or through their thumbs with Tic Tok, Instagram, texts, or Twitter. And, of course, an important part of teaching is show and tell. We must model what we teach!