Young People’s Blog

“The thing was right in the eyes of all the people” (1 Chronicles 13:4).

“And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them” (Mark 15:15).

Perhaps you are not just pleasing yourself as we saw yesterday. But how about trying to gain favor, and make yourself look good in the eyes of others? Are you living to please others, and to get their approval?

David’s plan in 1 Chronicles 13 ended in death and disaster when he tried to transport the ark of God according to his own ideas and to please the people. It was accompanied by singing and music and all seemed very good, but it was not right in the eyes of God.

And poor Pilate. He was willing to please the people, but in doing so, he crucified the Son of God, and went himself into eternal destruction.

Yes, we want to be kind and accommodating to our fellowman, but not to have their approval as our object.

“Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

Whom are you trying to please? If you stop and think about it, what would this world really be like if we all were free to do just what we thought was right? No laws. No police force to maintain order. No courts to punish crime. The end of selfishness (and that is really doing just what we think is right) is chaos. You would not even have any friends, for who wants a totally selfish friend?

The Christian has a much higher standard and a higher motive in life than self. We have the Lord Jesus as a Friend and Object. And He also promises to help us overcome the selfishness that seems to creep over this world and into our lives. Today as you start your day, take with you this verse, Romans 15:13, “For even Christ pleased not Himself.”

“I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do” (John 17:4).

Yesterday we raised the question about why the three hours of darkness are mentioned in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but not in John. I may not be able to give a complete answer to this, but it is noteworthy that the Lord’s time in the Garden of Gethsemane is not mentioned in John either. It simply says that he went “where was a garden.”

Our verse today helps us to understand this. In John’s gospel the Lord Jesus is portrayed to us as the eternal Son of God. As such, He rose above all the suffering and agony connected with the cross. Of course He went through it all, but also He could pray ahead of the time as if the work were already completed. It had all been settled in past eternity, long before this world and the whole universe were made.

When it came time to go to the cross, the Lord Jesus looked beyond it all, and saw all the glory that would result from the cross, and all the blessing for you and me. He knew that He would be satisfied with the results of His own work, as we read in Isaiah 53:11. For these reasons the Spirit of God does not mention the immediate cost involved.

“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying…. My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me”? (Matthew 27:45-46).

As I write this today (April 8, 2024) there was a total eclipse of the sun, and it was quite visible in our part of Canada. We live right in the direct path for the best view of its totality. For days and even weeks ahead of this event, people have been getting ready to watch and study it. Today thousands flocked into strategic cities, buying the special viewing glasses, doing sun-dances and enjoying general partying.

As the time came and the day darkened, I watched an eerie gloom spread across the sky. It was all over in 4 minutes; the sky brightened and the sun shone once more. I could not help thinking of those terrible three hours of darkness at midday nearly 2000 years ago. God was punishing His beloved Son for my sins, and yours, if you will accept Him as your Savior. Three hours. We will never know what happened during that time, for God saw to it that it was dark, not just gloomy.

After the sky brightened, I sat down and re-read those accounts in the gospels … Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I thought about why the hours of darkness are not mentioned in the gospel of John. Do you have any ideas? We will write about that tomorrow.

“Their strength is to sit still” (Isaiah 30:7).

“In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).

More ways to wait! Sitting still and being quiet. Life today is very fast paced. There is always something going on. Friends to meet, texting, phoning, checking up on acquaintances on social media. How often do we really and truly sit still, really still, in His presence? Once again, this is connected with strength. We do not get weak sitting quietly with our Lord, but actually gain strength!

And “quietness” ….a missing commodity today. There is always music or some other distraction coming from somewhere!

I was in a shopping mall last week with our little great-granddaughter who has just learned to walk. She was toddling along looking in the windows, when suddenly she stopped and began to sway and bob up and down. I had been oblivious to the music coming out of the store until then, but she heard it! This world is never quiet. We need to cultivate quietness in our lives and build up “the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16).

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7).

“But the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of the Christ” (2 Thessalonians 3:5 JND).

Yesterday we discussed waiting. That can be done in several ways. A horse waiting to begin a race is “waiting,” but he is not “resting”! The Lord wants us to rest (relax) in Him while we wait. If we really trust Him that He will do the best for us, then we can wait in this way, patiently.

Our second verse today gives us an example of this patient waiting. The Lord has been waiting for over 2000 years to take His bride to heaven. None of us has had to wait that long for anything. But we are to rest in His love and take His patience as our example. He is coming soon, and He will take care of us while we wait for that day. To help us do that, He reminds us of how long He has been waiting for us.

“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord” (Psalm 27:14).

How very hard it is to wait for something! Perhaps you are waiting for the date when you can try for your driver’s license. Perhaps you want to find a marriage partner and the Lord has not brought that person into your life just yet. You are waiting.

Here we see that waiting is connected with courage and the strengthening of our hearts. Do not treat the waiting the way we sometimes wait at a red traffic light! Just anxiously waiting until we can step on that gas pedal and get going again!

There are lessons to learn and moral character to be built. If the Lord puts you into a “hold” pattern, take it from Him and learn in the time that you wait. He promises to strengthen your heart.

“According as He [God the Father] hath chosen us in Him [the Lord Jesus Christ] before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).

What an amazing fact! It is hard for us to imagine such a thing, that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. How old is this world? We cannot be sure, for God has not told us, but we know that it was revealed a long time ago. It says in Psalm 102:25, “Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth,” and if God uses the phrase “of old,” surely it must have been a long time ago. But before God even created this world, and the universe, He looked ahead and chose you and me.

Perhaps you and I wonder why the Lord has chosen us, and we cannot really answer that question. God acts according to His own wishes, and if He has chosen us, we should simply be thankful, and praise Him for it. However, it is almost more than our human minds can take in, that before this universe was made, God was thinking about those whom He would choose.

“I am fearfully and wonderfully made…My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret…Thine eyes did see my substance, being yet unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written” (Psalm 139:14-16).

Have you ever been unhappy with the way you are made? Probably all of us, at one time or another, wished that something about us was different. Maybe you wished you were taller, or smarter in certain areas, or had a different color of hair, or a different skill in a particular area. I remember wishing that I was better at playing sports and other athletic activities.

However, our verse for today shows us that the Lord was directly involved in the way we were made. We are indeed wonderfully made, in both our minds and our bodies. Even before we were born into this world, the Lord was watching over our development, and even kept a record of it all! When the Lord designed us, He had a special purpose in mind, and He wants us to realize that purpose. He has given each one of us a mind and a body of His choice, and He wants us to use them for Him. Instead of being dissatisfied with what the Lord has given us, let us be content and ask Him how we can use our mind and body for Him.

“Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?…But now is Christ risen from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:12,20).

There were some in Corinth that were teaching that there is no resurrection of the dead. But the Apostle Paul points out that if Christ rose from the dead, then it follows that believers will rise from the dead too. Paul points out that the resurrection of Christ is absolutely vital to Christianity. If Christ did not rise, then we are not saved; we are still in our sins.

Today is the day when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, and because of that, we can remember Him in death. If the Lord Jesus did not rise, then death would have conquered Him. But He conquered death, and rose from among the dead. His resurrection is an established fact, for there were many witnesses who saw Him afterward, and who could testify that He was alive. Because of Christ’s resurrection, every true believer who has died will rise from the dead when the Lord Jesus comes back to take us home to Himself.