Looking Beyond

Jim:

Habakkuk 3:1-18
Verses 17 and 18 are powerful: “Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation.” No matter how bad it gets, no matter how difficult life becomes, the prophet will always rejoice in the Lord and what it means to be one of God’s people because it is from God, and no other source, that salvation will ultimately come. What a gift the prophet has been given, to be able to look beyond even the worst of conditions to see the glory that is coming.

Philippians 3:12-21
Paul, too, looks beyond the here and now to that which is to come. “But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 20). Paul knows that whatever challenges lie ahead, the struggle is well worth the results. So he will continue to push ahead no matter what and calls his readers to do the same.

John 17:1-8
John’s gospel is also looking ahead. In verse 3 Jesus says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” The focus to our living, then, is to be on God as known in Jesus Christ with the understanding that this will lead to life beyond death. No matter what we face in this life, our focus must be on God because it is in God through Jesus that we will receive our salvation.