THOUGHT: Jesus embraced suffering so we could experience new life.
BIBLE: But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
TRANSCRIPT: Why is there so much suffering in the world? You know, one of my daughters brought home a goldfish when she was little from some fall festival thing, and you bring it home in a little baggie. And this thing, we called him Tiny, because this thing was not even a half an inch long. He was a little guy. I have to admit, when I first saw this thing, I thought this guy, I'm giving him over and under maybe seven days to survive. But, tiny is a survivor. We got a little bowl for him, we put him in there, we took care of him. This guy lived for years. Tiny like grew and grew. He was a tough little guy, and man he lived a long time. And what was interesting is we didn't get like the aquarium with the pumps, all that kind of stuff, we just poured fresh water in there. But over the course of time, the water would get murky and stinky and nasty and hard to even see through, and then we would fish Tiny out of there, and then we would clean the bowl, and then we would put fresh water in and put him back in there. We did that over and over again.
Why is our world so messed up? Well, it's a lot like Tiny's bowl. That God created the world fresh and clean and good and right, but because sin has entered the world, it has made everything murky. It has turned everything upside down. And what we see is sin and hate, and murder and strife and division, and all the things that are terrible about our world are... Really stem from this issue of sin that is ubiquitous and impacts everything about life that we know it. And listen, only Jesus can clean that bowl. That only Jesus can change us on the inside, only Jesus can make us right with God. This is why Romans 5:8 says, "But God proves His own love to us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." That Jesus came, He died on a cross. He suffered the penalty for our sin. He rose again from the dead, and He offers newness, newness of life for all those who would trust Him by faith. So listen, it's one thing to want to change the world, but you gotta start with your own life, start with your own heart, and Jesus can start with a change in you, he can start with the change in you.
Listen, one day, here's a little spoiler alert, one day He's gonna come again, He's gonna clean the whole bowl out. Alright. Praise God for that. We're looking forward to that day, but until then, He wants to change you.
Morning Thrive is Pastor Craig's daily inspirational devotional message. You can sign up here to receive these video devotionals right to your inbox! These short messages are a great way to start out each day in God’s Word!
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