Genesis 45 YOUR LIFE MATTERS TODAY Thursday Intercom
There is a common false belief in Lutheran high schools that I want to deal with today. Listen to this - what's wrong with this statement? "Lakeside prepares you for the future, academically, physically, and spiritually." Is there anything wrong with that statement? It sounds good - isn't that why you go to school, to prepare you for your future? And your parents have sent you here to a Christian school because they realize that you also need to be prepared spiritually for your future. So what's wrong with that? It is true, that school prepares you for your future. The only problem is, you get the impression that your life right now doesn't matter. I am getting prepared for the future, so what I do with my life right now - the present - that's not important.
This is a common false belief that every Christian school has to wrestle with among its students. My life right now doesn't really matter. Someday I'll make a difference in this world. Someday I'll get my act together and try hard. Someday I'll be organized and dependable. Someday. And as far as my spiritual life is concerned, someday I'll stop sinning on purpose. Someday I'll glorify God with my words, with the way I treat people. Someday I'll get my bad thoughts under control. Someday I'll live a life that gives God glory. But not right now. No right now, my life doesn't really matter. Right now I can sin, I can say things and do things that are just ridiculously wrong, because I am young. Right now I can do all kinds of things behind my parents' backs and lie and cheat and do whatever, because my life doesn't matter right now.
It's not true, obviously. God never says in the Bible that you can sin all you want while you are under the age of 20. But there are many students who are sitting in homeroom right now listening to what I'm saying - and I'm describing you. The reason I bring this up because we are talking about the life of Joseph. His life mattered, even when he was young. He made a difference, even though he was young. Do you know how old Joseph was when God began speaking to him through dreams, giving him hints that he would someday be a ruler? Do you know how old Joseph was when God changed Joseph's life - sent him to Egypt - so that the world wouldn't die of starvation? Joseph was 17, a junior in high school, when all these things began. His life mattered when he was your age. His life mattered, even though he was young. And when you study the life of Joseph - how he acted in the house of Potiphar, how he worked hard and resisted adultery, how he was honest and trustworthy, even in jail - he didn’t give himself permission to sin, or to slack off, just because he was young. He knew God had a plan for his life, and he respected God's plan by resisting sin, by working hard. He knew that his life made a difference not just someday, but today. Little did Joseph know how God would bless him, but later on, when he looked back on his life when he was 17, he said this, "God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save our lives by a great deliverance." That happened when he was 17.
My point is, your life matters right now. God's plan for your life is taking place today, not someday, but right now. The Apostle Paul once said, "Now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2). If you have ever given yourself permission to sin, or to slack off, just because you are young, then repent. Ask God to forgive you. And then rejoice, because God has forgiven you, he hasn't turned on his back on you. He has placed your sin on Jesus Christ, and Jesus has taken your sins away on the cross. God doesn't say to you, "Maybe someday I will forgive you." No, God say, "Now is the day of salvation." God forgives you today. God is working out an awesome plan for your life today. And now that you have been forgiven, remember that your life matters today. Stop sinning today. If you have ever thought to yourself, "Someday I'll stay away from people who cause me to sin" - do that today, because your life matters today. Glorify God with your effort, with your thoughts and words and actions. And trust that God will bless you, just like God blessed Joseph. What you do today, tonight, and every day, matters. Amen.
Dear Lord, please forgive me for sinning and thinking that it's OK, just because I am young. Thank you for taking this sin away. Help me to remember that everything I do today and every day matters to you. Amen.
