Clinging to the Lord

God warns us more and more through His holy Word, in order to turn us all from wrongdoing and keep us from pride, to preserve our lives from the pit and from perishing, but man does not perceive it (Job 33:14-18).

Job is an example we must all follow if we really want to live forever. Job encountered many difficulties: he suffered too much, lost his belongings, and his sons and daughters died also (Job1:13-22, 2:7-8). In spite of all this he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. May the Name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21) “Job was blameless and upright, a man who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:8). He was firm in the Lord (clung to the Lord), and the Lord God made him prosperous again and full of years. (Job 42:10, 12-16)

And so for us, Jesus Christ tells us that if we sincerely want to cling to him (belong to him), we must deny ourselves and take up his cross and follow him. ‘For whoever wants to save his/her life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for him (Jesus Christ) will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?’ (Matt.16:24-26)

We are urged only to love Jesus Christ more than other things, and only believe in God’s word - to be patient towards difficulties we may encounter during our lifetime. For if we find his word a hard teaching and fail to practise it, and turn back to love the world and its pleasures, we will, of course, lose eternal life; but if we suffer or even die (in the eyes of the world) because of giving ourselves to Jesus Christ, we will surely gain eternal life. For nothing in this present age can be compared to the Kingdom of God.

The book of Ecclesiastes tells us that the efforts of man are failure and vanity, but to cling to the Lord and give Him subservience can only bring benefit (Eccl.2:11; 12:13-14). The present life has no hope of survival, we must seek first the Kingdom of God (Luke12:31). ‘A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions’ (Luke 12:15) – ‘being rich in God is great gain.’ (Luke 12:21).

The day of the Lord will soon be here, but we, Brethren, ‘are not in darkness so that that day should surprise us like a thief. We are all sons of the light and sons of the day…let us be alert and self-controlled, putting on faith and love…’ (1Thess.5:1-11)

Bro. Isidore Mwibeleca (Nyarugusu, Tanzania)