Psalm 49

Consider these quotes:

“There aren’t many u-hauls behind hearses.”

“It’s not - if you die, it’s when.”

“It’s so sad he has a terminal illness… we all have one, it’s called sin.”

The Psalmist had a similar perspective in this Psalm when he says things like: vs.10, “For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others.” Or in the concluding verse 20, “A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.” If we are honest and face reality head on we must acknowledge, as does the Psalmist, that death will have the final say over our lives on earth. Some may try to ignore this obvious truth, while others may conclude we might as well “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die”. But tucked into this Psalm is also vs. 15, ”But God will redeem my life from the grave, he will surely take me to himself”. I’m not sure how the Psalmist knew this, but we know it is true because of the resurrection of Jesus on that first Easter morning. The Apostle Paul concludes that our faith as Christians is dependent on this single fact: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins”. (1 Cor. 15:17). As we celebrate Easter we can be confident of a whole list of things:

-Because Christ’s resurrection is real; his death saves us, his teachings guide us and eternal life awaits us!

-Death does not have the final say over our lives.

-We have reason for hope, joy, peace…

-Everyone needs to know because eternal destinies are at stake.

- (You add your own…)

What a privilege and responsibility we have to share the “Good News” of Christ’s resurrection!!

Father, thank you that through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ rose from the dead and now we too can celebrate with complete confidence, as did the Psalmist, that “you will redeem my life from the grave and you will surely take me to yourself”. Thank you that the same power of the Spirit is available to transform us from the inside out to become like him, eternally. Amen

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 4th, 2007 at 5:34 am and is filed under Daily Readings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.