Sunday 28th July 2024
… wait until the Lord comes.
He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness
and will expose the motives of the heart.
1 Corinthians 4:5 (NIV)
Charlotte Dujardin discovered this week how costly it can be when our wrongdoings are brought to light. She was a Team GB dressage rider (that is, a horse rider!) widely expected to become Britain’s outright most decorated female Olympian at this year’s Paris Olympics. Those hopes were dashed when a video emerged from a few years ago showing her “excessively” whipping a horse in training, and she was immediately suspended pending investigation.
It is a reminder to all of us that everything we have done will one day be brought to light – even the motives of our hearts which no one other than ourselves may know. Imagine a film being shown depicting every deed we have done, every word we have spoken, every thought we have had, and every motive lying behind those deeds, words and thoughts!
It is a frightening prospect, or at least it would be if we did not know that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1) and that “we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 1:1-2).
In the context of the verse above, it is also a warning not to make premature judgments, “to judge nothing before the appointed time” (1 Corinthians 4:5a). The truth is that we do not know all the facts, not yet. How easy it is, how tempting and even satisfying, to make judgments even without having all the information – and social media is awash with such judgments. But one day all the facts will be known.
So it is, finally, an encouragement to all of us to live our lives in the light of that final day. That is the day that counts, just as the finishing line in the Olympics 100m is the line that counts. “At that time each will receive their praise from God” (1 Corinthians 4:5).
Lord, teach me to live every day of my life for the day when you come again. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)