Dear friends,
It was Bob Dylan who sang, “You gotta serve somebody.” We’re all serving someone or something. We all have something we’re living for, and therefore serving. It may be an ambition, a dream, a person. Sadly, most of those things or people will let us down – all except one. As Tim Keller has said, “Jesus is the only Lord who, if you receive him, will fulfil you completely, and, if you fail him, will forgive you eternally.”
Other lords invariably disappoint. How many people have struggled to get to the top, only to find that when they get to the top, there’s nothing there, and they feel lonelier than ever? How many have striven to get rich, only to find that they never have enough and they still want more? How many are drowning, trying to meet the expectations of their families, their peers, even themselves, and feeling as though they always come up short? The thing is, we were never meant to be satisfied with such things. We were made to find our rest in Jesus, and only he will fulfil us completely.
And other lords are never as forgiving. There’s little mercy for those who fail to make the grade, who aren’t clever enough, beautiful enough, competent enough, rich enough, fit enough. Only Jesus will forgive us eternally, again and again and again, whenever we turn to him. Fulfilment and forgiveness: it’s a powerful and beautiful combination, one that no other lord can deliver. If we ‘gotta serve somebody’, let’s make sure it’s Him.
Chris Hobbs,
Vicar.