What Is Essential?
A couple of terms that we have heard a lot lately are the terms “essential” and “non-essential.” It has started me thinking about what that means. Although we may have many same essentials, we would also have many different essentials. It all depends upon who you are, where you come from, what you have been taught. What your experiences are and what you believe. I understand that what I believe is essential may be way down on your list and what you believe essential may be down on my list. Through the years, I have often challenged people to make a list of priorities in their lives, starting with the most important and working down. You might want to try that, but for this column, I will use the term “essentials.” I will challenge you to do the same.
At the top of the list, I will put God. There are many gods, but the one I refer to is the God of the Bible, The Lord God Jehovah. He is eternal, He is the one who created, He is the one who sets the rules, and when mankind has and is breaking them, He provides a way to be forgiven through His Son, Jesus Christ. We are approaching the celebration of Easter. The biblical side of Easter is that Jesus died according to the scripture, that He was buried, and He rose the third day again according to the scripture (I Corinthians 1:3, 4). We are told that Jesus paid the price for our rule-breaking. By accepting or believing we appropriate Christ's work so that we are forgiven and given eternal life. These two verses also give us another essential, the "scriptures." Without them, we do not have a consistent, factual revelation from God to us. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (II Timothy 3:16, 17) The Word communicates from God to us the plan and the history that brings it together. As well as the future that is ahead. It is essential!
One more for now, "faith." I have been told that the most important thing is just to have faith. If you don't think about it much, you would say, "yes, that's true." But we need to think this through. You can have faith in a lot of different things. You should have a certain amount of faith in your doctor, your mechanic, your broker, and so on. What we are talking about here is "God." But again, your God may not be my God. We may believe and perceive our God differently. That is where you need to rely upon the Word of God to tell you who He is. You can't make Him into something that is, in essence, your creation. He is who He says He is in His word. He tells us that to relate to Him properly, we must do it by "believing" or having "faith." Hebrews 11:6 says, "For without faith it is impossible to please Him." Different translations may tell it a little differently, but it is, in essence, the same. The only way we can approach God is by faith. You can't put God in a test tube to see if He is real. No one can prove His existence, but there is sufficient evidence that testifies that He is. But it takes faith to make it from proof to the reality of the real God who loves you and wants to forgive you through His Son.
This is truly going to be an Easter that is different than most of us have ever celebrated before. Most churches will not have a traditional service. Our church has had an Easter breakfast for as long as anyone can remember, but not this year. Understand that this will not change the meaning contained in this historic event. God’s eternal Son became flesh and blood, lived a perfect life as no other has or can live. Then He offered Himself up to endure a brutal death. That death was for nothing He had done, but it was for what we have done. He took our place and suffered the penalty for our sin. Then He rose from the dead, came back to life, conquering sin and death. For those who have faith, an Easter celebration is about what Christ did for us and the new life we have in Him. That is essential that no one can take away from you. You celebrate it in your very most inner being.
Pastor Lynn Rettig
Musselshell Community Bible Church
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