Lastly, in Jesus Christ I see someone who is excellent and praiseworthy. This world doesn't really embrace excellence anymore. In this world of political correctness it is deemed to damaging to a child to tell them the truth about what they need to work on. There is a striving for mediocrity. Well, Jesus did not come to earth to bring us a mediocre life -- He came to bring us an abundant and excellent life. Maybe not how the world defines abundance, with the lies of material wealth and riches but rather with being able to live in the transcendent peace of Almighty God. Look at what we give praise to in this world. Johan Santana pitched the first no-hitter in Mets history yesterday and as a fan, I was very happy. But praiseworthy? Jesus Christ died on a tree so that I could be reunited with my Creator and have eternal life now and avoiding eternal punishment later. THAT is praiseworthy. Jesus is praiseworthy. Everything else falls way, way short of the mark.
I am not suggesting that this is easy. Our thought patterns are engrained within us through years of reinforcement and the world system only furthers that reinforcement. As with everything, God expects us to strive for what is right. He does not expect overnight miracles -- only He is in that business. When we strive to correct our thought life and our focus we are seeking the peace of God. We can seek this by not treating Jesus as an academic endeavor we can study for and forget. We can start to heal our thought patterns by putting into practice what we have learned about Jesus, what we have heard from Him directly, and from what we see in who He is. Jesus Christ is truth to the lies of the enemy. He is noble to the immorality of this world. He is what is right in a world that is so wrong. He is pure to the world's contaminations. He is lovely to the ugliness and admirable to the wretched. In a world selling mediocrity He is excellence and where everything else is but a mere shadow before Him -- He is always worthy of all of our praise. If we want to correct our thought patterns it must start by thinking about Christ alone. To Him be all the glory -- forever and ever, amen.
Reverend Anthony Wade - June 2, 2012
