Saturday, June 13

Jeremiah 12:1, 5
You are always righteous, O LORD, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?

Jeremiah was offering the same complaint we have: “Why do the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper?” He must have had someone in particular in mind, because the wicked do not all prosper, and good people do not all suffer. There are bad people who fall on hard times. There are good people who do quite well.

Faith in Christ does not come with a guarantee. We are not guaranteed that everything will be “rosy” from here on. In fact, the opposite is true. We are promised that following Christ will be hard.

Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58, NIV). He also said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33, NIV).

There’s your guarantee!

If bad people were the only people suffering and Christians were the only people prospering we’d have folks standing in line to get saved.

So why be a Christian? What is the advantage?

All people suffer, but the advantage Believers have is this: Jesus is with us! He gives our lives meaning. And we know that this life is not all there is. One day we’ll cross that river; we’ll fight life’s final war with pain; then as death gives way to victory we’ll see the lights of glory and we’ll be home! Then it will all be worth it!