“Hey! I want to get your opinion on something….”
It was about 6:30 in the evening and I was rushing to get back to the church because we were having a lock-in. I just walked into Little Caesars around the corner for the church’s youth and that night’s helpers. As I paid for all the boxes of pizza, the teenage cashier asked what was going on so that I needed so much food.
I told him our church is having a lock-in and that we are kicking-off the night with some pizza. Once he learned that I was with the church, his face turned serious and curious simultaneously and he asked, “So what do you think about horoscopes?”
It caught me off-guard, but I subdued my haste to answer his question. I told him that there are very important truths we can learn about God and this world through what has been created—including the sky.
Then I told him that the earth and the sky, as helpful as they seem for teaching us what we need to know, are insufficient for teaching us about God and the real meaning of life. So we need God’s thoughts about himself and this world instead of our interpretation from what has been made.
He listened intently and took in what I was saying. The conversation ended as he went back to work.
With more time, I would have taken him to the resurrection of Jesus.
In life, voices bombard us, such as horoscopes or good-intentioned friends, bidding us to take their advice or to go this way instead of that. The voices come whether we want them or not. Some are helpful and others—not so much.
The curly-haired, lanky teenager in the steamy Little Caesars tried to find a voice of direction in horoscopes. He simply wanted a bit of insight for his path so he asked if I thought they were helpful. He sought for wisdom.
Other times, the so-called “voices of wisdom” are not sought after but shower and even allure us into following such-and-such a path.
In the midst of life’s flurry, we will miss the most important voices if we aren’t careful. The sobering part is this: the voices will softly, but powerfully change your thinking and actions whether you recognize it or not.
For better or worse, the voices speaking into our lives influence us—those we intentionally listen to and those to which we don’t.
So it is vitally important to remember the resurrection and to live in light of it. The invitation to receive this voice of resurrection is called the “word of life” by Paul in the New Testament. He says to hold fast to this word of life because it is the testimony of God’s acts and words in and through Jesus for your sake.
In the word of life, God interprets himself and the world. So if the resurrection is indeed true, then we are called to seek that voice behind it and listen to it—to let that voice have influence in our thoughts, feelings, and decisions.
Last Wednesday, I was speaking with a bronze sculptor and artist whose art is in every state and about sixty countries. We were talking about the word of life and he said, “It is a light for your way.” And he jerked his left arm and forcefully pointed straight down at my feet. So I glanced down.
He continued saying, “God’s word of life is not 100 yards ahead of you; it is right in front of you showing where you should go.”
If the resurrection is true, then there is a God. And the God behind the resurrection is not merely showing off at a distance, but he is extending the voice of life to your path for today. In it, we find guidance, strength, hope, and truth. The voice is always speaking so don’t forget to listen.
Thanks,
Aaron