The Gift Of Salvation- A Message Of Perfect Clarity
Are you still living in a blurred reality? Brad reminds us that the only way we can see the “full and clear picture”, is by accepting God’s gift of salvation.
Picture Perfect
I remember when we got our first colored television. I was about 6 or 7 years old and I had already clocked a lot of hours on our old black and white model. My favorite show was The Flintstones. As a kid, it was exciting to come home from school, grab a snack, and spend some chill time being entertained in front of the tube.
It seemed that the addition of a colored television might potentially be a real enhancement to my entertainment experience. However, even at that young age, I had doubts as to whether the brilliance of color was going to be “all that brilliant.” You see my cousins had colored televisions, as did my friend up the road. I’d watched shows in their living rooms, and the colors and the tones, the crispness and quality, left somewhat to be desired. In those days’ reception on most television sets was compromised, regardless of the quality or brand of tv you owned. It was a choice between two or three channels. The physical location of your home, and the effectiveness of your rabbit ears or roof antennae were a factor in the overall visual experience.
When we did get around to getting our first colored TV, my expectations of less than stellar quality were confirmed. Yes, the picture did display in color, but the colors were more a blend of reds, oranges, and browns; while the blues and greens seemed bland, no matter what adjustments you made to the tone and contrast buttons on the front of the set.
If you contrast that with the visual experience of today, you have to smile at the way we “streamed” our media 20, or 30 years ago, and the resulting quality. The very application of the word “stream” as we now know it, didn’t exist. The clarity that we now have across a multitude of devices is unparalleled. “Picture perfect” is the screen on our smartphones, iPads, HDTVs, or oversized computer monitors. A gazillion mega-pixels deliver exactly what you’d expect in terms of a crystal clear visual experience. Perfect colors, in perfect clarity, that I don’t believe can be improved upon. Certainly, it’s leaps and bounds beyond the lackluster quality we came to know as the standard in the 1960s’ and 70s’.
Tuned In To Reality
But isn’t it a sad paradox; that people want such clarity from their entertainment devices, yet they choose a blurred reality when it comes to the very fundamental details of life itself. They choose to stay in a mode, where life’s broadcast is transmitting as if from a poor-quality antenna. The most important details are being missed, and the clear and full picture is not being seen.
Paul says that “now we see through a glass darkly, but then shall we see face to face”. But those that are not “tuned in” to the reality of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, are not even seeing through a glass darkly. They’re not seeing at all. They’re not allowing themselves to fully comprehend that “full and clear picture”. And unfortunately for them it’s a decision, it’s a lifestyle choice. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned”. Without a relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit is not ministering to them, and the realities of all things that this life entails, are eluding them.
For Christians, it’s as if a movie plot has been written, and we are off to the side, watching things unfold. We may not know exactly how the details unfold in the final scene, but we know the storyline. We know how it ultimately plays out. How blessed we are.
Perfect Clarity
The Bible says that these things have been revealed to all that are found in Christ, in this age of grace. But God’s love is for every person, in every corner of the world, and God’s love brings a new life, one with perfect clarity.
Truly, it is sad to see that more often than not, people choose to live willfully in darkness…in a state where they’re just muddling about. Pride, sin, stubbornness, willful ignorance, all these things block the signal from God, not allowing the message of light and life to illuminate them.
Ironically, it is a complete contradiction that contrasts sharply with everything else in their life. They want a clear picture of where they’re headed with their finances, their career, the plan for their family. But there’s no place at all in that picture for God; God who loves them, who created them, who has given his very self for them.
The Gift Of Salvation
Life itself cannot be viewed clearly, without viewing it through the eyes of faith; faith in Jesus Christ. God reminds us that apart from eternal life found in Jesus, there is “no other name in heaven or earth, whereby we must be saved.” If we live our lives in a continual state of denying God, we are not only missing out on a blessed relationship now and forever with the Father and the Son, but tragically we’re on the road to our ultimate end; death … to an eternity where there will be “weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth”.
The clarity we demand from our media stream, should be the clarity we look for in the grand scheme of life. God promises that all who seek him, will truly find him. Jeremiah 19:13 says: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
My prayer today, is that even one soul who is searching for clarity, would comprehend the full picture that God has put before all to consider. That “there is none righteous, no not one.” The Bible say that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” But it is God, and God only who poured out his love upon us in the gift of salvation; securing for us forgiveness from our sins, an inheritance eternal, and a clarity in this life to guide us…as we navigate our way on the road that leads home.
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Brad Hewey
Brad offers up practical, scriptural advice from a perspective borne out of everyday life encounters. As we live and move and have our being…it’s the individual life lessons that most often present the greatest challenges, but can yield the richest blessings. We’ve all, as Christians had those faith-affirming moments, where we’ve had an overwhelming sense of God’s spirit, or his very presence “at a particular but, maybe random time”.
Brad was born and still resides in a small community in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, where he and his wife Karen raised their 3 children. Brad & Karen fellowship at the Greenland Bible Chapel, where Brad serves as an elder.
Brad loves meeting and engaging with people. His background in sales has provided opportunities to travel throughout the US and Canada, networking with people from all walks of life. Brad is a singer/songwriter and has recorded 3 Christian albums. Songs from his “Brighter Day” release, have aired on Christian Radio stations across Canada and two of Brad’s albums are on HopeStreamRadio’s playlist.
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