All Sorts of Emptiness

What springs to mind when you hear the word empty?  It’s not one of our favourite words is it?  The definition in the dictionary we have in the house goes like this; “void, containing nothing; devoid of, vacant, unoccupied; unloaded, destitute, desolate; meaningless, unsubstantial, shadowy; senseless, inane; without intelligence, ignorant; hungry, unsatisfied.”

If that were not bad enough it goes on to give some ways in which the word is used, in expressions such as empty-handed, which reminds us of someone with nothing to call their own, or, what is worse, empty-headed.  I guess we’ve all had to deal with people we could apply that to!  Even worse would be to describe somebody as empty-hearted.

As we look at the world around us we see spiritual emptiness.  It is clear that many people have a void at the centre of their life which they vainly try to satisfy with the material things that they can buy in the shops they visit.  Indeed the whole process of materialism seems to depend on such an ‘emptiness’.  Many people who are part of that approach to life often look at Christians and think that we must be empty-headed to believe in an unseen God and live for a crucified Saviour.

But as Christians we have to own up to the fact that our faith is based on something empty!  Right at the heart of the Christian faith there is something wonderfully empty.  It is the grave of the Lord Jesus Christ!  If it were still occupied, Christianity would be truly empty.  It would be futile.  As we celebrate another Easter Day, we rejoice that the fact that the grave is empty means that Christians, of all people, have a ‘fullness’ that the world will never give us.

The emptiness of the tomb of the Lord Jesus is one of the indisputable facts of history.  Unlike Mohammed, or any other great religious figure, there is no corpse and no occupied tomb to visit.  Though men for twenty centuries have advanced other explanations for the emptiness of the tomb, the only one that really stands up to investigation is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ really happened.  Scared, cowardly disciples, absent at the cross and dejected for the next two days, are transformed into fearless preachers of the resurrection, willing to be martyred rather than deny that it happened.  The Apostle Paul staked his life upon the fact and was willing to refer people who doubted it to over 500 people who had met the risen Jesus, in his writings (1 Corinthians 15:6).  Have you examined the evidence for this great event?

 But if Jesus did rise from the dead, everything is changed.  Death has been defeated.  There is a hope that goes beyond the grave.  And if He did rise, He must be who He claimed to be – the Son of God and the Lord of life itself.  We need to worship Him as such, and repent of the empty lives we live.  We need to come in worship to the Lord of the empty tomb and receive the fullness of life that He came to bring.

Lesson from a Lost Lead

In our household, our mornings begin with walking the dog, come rain, come shine. Usually, at least two of us walk the dog together, but on this particular morning, it was just me.

As I walked our dog Lily at the local park, I zigzagged across the large field playing games with her. When it was time to go, I put my hands to my side to rummage for the lead, and to my dismay, it was no longer around my middle, where I had tied it. I looked around the large open field, which now seemed very large indeed, and wondered exactly which way I had sauntered. Oh, why hadn’t I just stuck to the path? Surely the multi-coloured lead ought to be reasonably easy to spot on the green grass! Though I tried to retrace my footsteps, I could not find that lead. I asked the other local doggy-walkers, a friendly and kindly lot of folk, but no-one had seen it. Some of them even joined in the search.

By this time, Lily was flagging and definitely wanted to go home, but we live a good ten minutes’ walk from the park, and it necessitates walking beside main roads; there was no safe way of going home without a lead. I was wondering quite what to do when I saw two ladies come towards me; they stopped to talk to me. One of the ladies insisted that I have her dog’s lead, saying that she’d come by car and could manage without it. Gratefully, I accepted and we swapped phone numbers to enable us to make arrangements for its return.

Though I tried to contact that lady to return her lead, each time an arrangement was made, something would happen; she would text to say she couldn’t come, but she insisted I keep the lead. Now generally speaking, I know my fellow dog-walkers, yet this kind lady I have met neither before, nor since. The more I have considered the happenings, the more providential they seem.

The Lord knows our needs even before we ask Him. It seems to me that in His great kindness He sent me help. If the Lord should care about such a small event in the scheme of my life, then the big issues, that each of us agonise over, are of great concern to Him too.

“Let the Lord be magnified,

 Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”

 (Psalm 35:27) 

The Fine Art of Procrastination

If something needs doing in your house, are you the sort of person who gets it done straight away, or are you more likely to put it off until a later date?  According to a survey, the results of which were published in The Times a couple of weeks back, we have become a society addicted to postponing household tasks – not so much a nation as a procrasti-nation!

2000 adults were surveyed by Crucial.com, apparently, and three quarters confessed to having this problem.  The domestic tasks that were most often delayed included filing documents, ironing, vacuuming, cleaning the toilet and washing the car.  The ‘winner’ however was cleaning the oven, which 56% of people said they were likely to put off until the last minute.

The survey also described the effect that this procrastination of tasks had on people, and particularly on their marriages. Leaving tasks incomplete not only makes us feel bad, it provokes regular arguments with partners. Over a quarter of the UK find they argue with partners about unfinished tasks around the home at least once a week. Men and women respond very differently to the pressure, with men admitting that they just wish their partner would stop bringing up the subject (31%) or occasionally be just that bit more understanding (27%). Women on the other hand overwhelmingly want their men to be more helpful (42%) or take control of the situation (27%).

Whatever your house is like – please don’t ask Linda about ours – we would all agree that the stress produced by putting things off is unnecessary.  But putting things off in other areas of our lives however can be more dangerous.  For example, we are always told to be watching our body and to be alert for symptoms of various diseases that need to be caught quickly.  Delaying going to the doctor can have serious consequences.

But with some things it is even more important that we act quickly.  That is certainly true when it comes to how we respond to the message of the Bible.  We may have read the Bible a lot, have listened to many sermons and have a good understanding of the Christian message.  We may have owned up to the inescapable fact that we are sinful, and considered the claim of the Bible that in Jesus Christ and in Him alone, we can find forgiveness and peace with God.  But we may have put off making a decision to submit to Him and come in faith and repentance that we might have eternal life.  Perhaps we are like Felix whose story is told in Acts 24.  After hearing the Apostle Paul challenging him to believe in Jesus, Felix sent Paul away and said he would hear him again when it was convenient.

As far as we know there was never a convenient time for Felix, and so he died, unforgiven, and went to a lost eternity.  Don’t be like him!  Listen to the Bible when it says; “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2).  Don’t delay, come to Jesus today!