Storm Christoph swept across Britain. A couple in danger of severe flooding in Manchester said that this trouble came on top of BREXIT and Covid. With a wry smile, they added that they would “hope for the best and open a bottle of wine!” Arnold Schwarzennegger had his first dose of Covid vaccine, and urged everyone to follow suit, saying “Come with me if you want to live.” And America has a new president.
Joe Biden swore to serve America, quoting Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Declaration of 1863. This declaration, which ultimately led to the abolition of slavery in the USA, was his proudest achievement. Lincoln said that his ‘whole soul’ was in it. Referring to his new role, President Biden echoed these sentiments saying that his ‘whole soul’ was ‘in it’. He spoke repeatedly of truth and peace.
The young poet Amanda Gorman spoke passionately about a way forward, and quoted a Bible promise about people sitting peacefully and without fear
‘under their own vine and fig tree’
Micah 4:3-5
The source of unequivocal truth is the Bible:
The entirety of Your word is truth
Psalm 119:160
The Bible contains an amazing message: hope of eternal life, and freedom from the slavery of ‘sin’. It says of true Christian believers
having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life
Romans 6:22
So, what are our hopes? What will be our legacy? Where is our heart and soul? The Lord Jesus Christ said
I am the way, the truth, and the life
John 14:6
..you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these
Mark 12: 29-30
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid
John 14:27
If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free
John 8:31
We can have absolute truth and the best hope imaginable. If we ‘want to live’ (for ever) we need to love God and follow Jesus. Let us put our ‘whole souls’ into doing that.