I
love to win! Who doesn't? And to know ahead of time you'll win is
almost a dream. As we live and learn of Jesus Christ, His life and
love for each of us, we hear the words hope, faith, trust, and others
that don't quite have a rock-hard definition to them. It's hard to
create a picture of them in your mind.
When
God's word gives us a promise with a guarantee with it, it's easier
to visualize. The phrase, “...shall doubtless come again,” is
something that I can visualize and really rejoice in. This is the
kind of Christian walk we need to enjoy as we reach out to teens with
God's written promises and assurances. Let's see our example in
greater detail, in Psalms 126, starting in verse 5. “They that sow
in tears shall reap in joy.”
Do
you see the guarantee there? It's in the word 'shall'; not maybe,
could be or anything else. SHALL means it's going to happen, if the
proper steps are taken as specified. The promise as stated, is a
little vague, because we have to know what we need to sow.
Somewhere
I heard an old preacher say that if you need to have some part of
scripture explained to you, the Bible is the best thing to do it.
Most often we just need to take a closer look at it. That is often
done by getting on our knees for a closer study.
In
this case, the next verse gives us needed detail. “He that goeth
forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again
with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”
Our
guarantee word is reinforced with 'shall doubtless'. The verse tells
us that 'precious seed' (God's Word) is to be sown. We also see the
added phrase describing the reason for rejoicing. “Bringing his
sheaves with him.” That's a farmer's metaphor for bringing a
soulwinner's harvest with him.
When
we win at something, we rejoice. I find the 'joy' in verse 5 becomes
'rejoicing' in verse 6. In my thinking, joy (that we'll talk about
later) becomes a more outward and contagious 'rejoicing'.
What
grabs my attention most, is the 'tears' in verse 5 and the 'weeping'
in verse 6.
We
shed tears at the passing of a loved one, or hearing of a mistreated
child. We easily shed tears watching a movie or book. What are some
other things in your life, that prompts tears?
But
it's almost like we have no more tears for the lost condition of a
soul, young or old. This is especially true with our thoughts of
teens and their desperate search for someone to care for them, that
they physically cut themselves. They attempt to hide their inner pain
with outer pain and odd appearances.
So,
the bottom line is that on one side of the teen bridge, we have the
marching orders, the Bible directives and assurance of victory. On
the other side of the bridge are teens that react with all levels of
self destruction and help cries. The simple-to-understand catalyst to
bring hope and full joy to the teen, and fulfillment to you and I, is
tears. Tears that come from our heart and won't settle for anything
less than action; action directed by God and His word.
