2014 is winding down to a close. Looking back, my year has been like a never-ending roller coaster ride. A series of up and down cycles. I could be politically correct and brag about how wonderful things have been and how life just could not be any better. However, I think I will take a more honest approach. For some of you who take the other route, let people see your human side now and then. They will appreciate it and you will feel a sense of freedom that you may have forgotten is possible. Now listen, I do not mean that believers should sit around and complain nor brag about life exclusively. Life is certainly a mixture of the two. Let your mind drift back to king David, the songster. His poetry and songs were a mixture of honest commentary about life. At times, he was blown away by the power and majesty of God… other times, he lamented about how tough things were. Remember what scripture tells us about David. He was a man after God’s own heart. For me, the lesson here is that we should be honest (real) before God and man.
Now, on to the “real” purpose of this article. 2015 presents us with a paradoxical choice. The photo used to highlight this article is of the choice that Neo was presented with in the movie, the Matrix. Remember what Morpheus said to Neo?
This is my interpretation of a message that we can find in this “choice.” The blue pill represents the lie that satan has enveloped us in. You know, the never ending quest for material gain, status, power, and ease. I must chuckle a little when I think of how the movie stated it: “you wake up in bed and believe whatever you want to believe.” Sounds strangely familiar, doesn’t it? Many of us, even believers in Jesus, have allowed ourselves to fall prey to this fantasy world. We get so busy trying to please ourselves and the world that we hardly consider what would please God. Ouch! Yes, I know that stings a bit and I confess that I am not immune to that same malady. But, what about the red pill?
In the movie, Morpheus told Neo that he was only offering him truth. If you have even watched the Matrix movie, you know what happens next. Neo took the red pill and woke up to a shocking reality. Nothing was as it had seemed. This is where the paradox comes in. He found out that the proverbial wool had been pulled tightly over his eyes. He had been living a lie, walking aimlessly through a false world that was controlled by unseen forces. On top of that, he was being used to advance the purposes of a machine. My, my, does that sound familiar? Of course, we can imply this or that regarding what the forces are or what the machine is. For the purposes of this article, let’s just consider the bad stuff to be the works of satan and the darkness that he tries to envelop us in.
With all that in mind, I would like to challenge two groups of people. These groups are the saved and the lost. To put them in less churchy terms, those who believe in Jesus as Savior and those who do not.
Lost
- If you have not made a personal commitment to believe in and follow Jesus Christ as your savior, please do so.
- Believe it or not, you are trapped in a lie that is designed to keep you away from the ultimate truth.
Saved
- Brother… sister… my challenge to you is to start the new year with an accounting of where you are in the grand design of Kingdom work.
- Where are you? What are you doing? Are you actively engaged in the plan that God has for your life? Do you spend all of your time and treasure attempting to “get ahead” of the Jones’?
- Refocus, prioritize, put Jesus at the top of the list.
So, why would you want to do this? Well, lost person… this is to establish your place in eternity with a loving God. Saved person, it is to glorify your heavenly Father more than yourself. In 2015, take the red pill my friend.
