NBPC Devotional Series, 

by Rev. Wayne Baswick.  

LIFE in life.

Scripture Passage:  John 10:7-10;  

Verse - John 10:10 GNB  The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy.  I have come in order that you might have LIFE - LIFE in all its fullness.

                 The Cautious Man

There was a very cautious man

Who never laughed or played

He never risked, he never tried

He never sang or prayed

And when he one day passed away

His insurance was denied

For since he never really lived

They claimed he never died.

The first three words in the book, The Road Less Travelled by M. Scott Peck are "Life is difficult."  Perhaps this is the view of life that The Cautious Man had or that by its daily routine life was rather monotonous or perhaps his view included both, but one thing is for certain this man was never really alive as he went through life.  I rather suspect that he viewed life as an uphill struggle with a load on his back and he would have felt right at home with the writer (Solomon?) who wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:24a, "It is useless, useless said the Philosopher, life is useless, all useless.  Jesus himself said in John 16:33b "In the world you will have tribulation."

As I write this I have just finished listening to the Premier of Ontario declare a 'State of Emergency' for the province because of the aggressive nature of COVID-19 which has inflicted itself on many parts of the globe.  Yes we are being reminded by COVID-19 that life is difficult, that tribulation does come to us in life and that we have no other alternative than to struggle through the difficulties and setbacks in life as we are doing now.  As we listen to the latest updates on COVID-19 through the various media we can feel overwhelmed and it can drain our energies to the point of becoming discouraged of what lies ahead of us.

COVID-19 has come as Jesus states in today's verse as thief  comes to steal, kill (as COVID-19 has done and our prayers are with the families involved) and destroy.  Yes COVID-19, the thief can steal from us our sense of well-being and the peace of Christ that we have as Christians and destroy us if we become worried and anxious to the point that it indeed affects our well being of mind and spirit.  If we let it, we can let COVID-19 destroy us to the point of being so caught up in the present difficulty it presents, that we lose our faith perspective that while God expects us to use our heads in dealing with this virus, the matter ultimately is in God's hands and as we are enjoined by the prophet Isaiah in 41:10 "fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand."     

Yes Jesus has let us know that in the world we will have tribulation, but we don't stop there because Jesus goes on to say "but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.  

You see Jesus has come to give us LIFE (His LIFE)  in life, the life which is ours here and now, right in the midst of COVID-19 which as a thief would seek to steal this life from us.  Our Faith says otherwise!

The cautious man, either because of life's monotony or the struggle of life's difficulties or both never really did live.  May we live, yes, and truly be alive because of the LIFE that the Lord of LIFE has for us.

How alive am I in the LIFE that HE has for me? 

Prayer: Lord, may the LIFE you have for us give us strength and courage for the challenge and struggles that COVID-19 present unto us at this time.  Lord, be with the front line health workers, fire fighters, police services, paramedics and those at all levels of government that are giving of themselves on our behalf.

Rev. Baswick is always available for pastoral care, 24/7, and can be reached at 905-456-1727. 

Blessings and Safe keeping,

Rev. Wayne