Yesterday was Easter Sunday, truly this should be the most celebrated day for Christians. “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty” (1 Corinthians 15:13-14). All of our hope for a better life, an eternal life, would be dashed if Jesus had not risen from the dead. Even though we have faults, ingratitude, and sinfulness, He loves us anyway and came to save us from sin. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
We were blessed last Sabbath to have visitors from another small church who experienced devastating flooding a few years ago. The church members told stories about answered prayers and God’s leading. However, not every story ends happily, some people refused to leave their homes when the flood waters came. In one case, an elderly man died because he didn’t want to leave his things and his home, although rescuers finally managed to convince his wife to leave. What a terribly tragic story and one that could easily have been avoided. The ironic part is that when we die, we still can’t take stuff with us! Is life really not worth living without my things, my spouse, my pets, without everything I’ve known for years? The scripture cautions us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).
It is easy for me to say what people should do. But until I am faced with making actual decisions and experiencing trial first hand, I cannot say for certain if I would have reacted differently. Fast forward 50 years and perhaps my husband and I would be in the same situation. What if he didn’t want to leave our home even though we would die? Perhaps I know I can live without “stuff” but not without him. Him whom I have loved for well over 50 years, who has been my constant companion, him whom I know God placed in my life as a direct result of prayer? What would I do when the rescuers would come and he would refuse to leave?
Ellen White writes in Patriarchs and Prophets, “Love, gratitude, loyalty to the Creator—all were overborne by love to Eve. She was a part of himself, and [Adam] could not endure the thought of separation. He did not realize that the same Infinite Power who had from the dust of the earth created him, a living, beautiful form, and had in love given him a companion, could supply her place.” I love my husband so much that I cannot even fathom having a better spouse. Oh we have our differences and times of trial to be sure but even in the midst of a disagreement I know I love him. Perhaps the woman in the flood thought she was showing love for her husband by refusing to leave him? Perhaps she thought this is what love is, dying together. But God, through His Son, has shown us what real love is. Real love is leaving everything you have, everything you know, everyone who loves you, to do the will of God. There is no higher sacrifice than what Jesus has already paid for us. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). He is our Creator, our Sustainer, our Redeemer and Savior. There isn’t anything God asks us to do that isn’t in our own best interest even if we don’t understand it at the time. Therefore, our love, fidelity, loyalty, you name it, is due to God first. “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38).
Adam thought he couldn’t live without Eve but not only did God create Eve, He could also have supplied to Adam everything in place of Eve. I have not experienced a loss of this degree but if and when the time comes I must cling to God and know that He has a plan for my life (Jeremiah 29:11). If we truly live putting God first, we might lose everything and everyone around us, but God will supply all our need and help us to fulfill the purpose He has for us. We should be more willing to live for God than to die for the things of this world. What a blessing that man who died in the flood could have been to his wife, to his community, to his church, a witness to the love of God for sending someone to rescue him, had he only but chosen to live and trust that God would supply all his need. Focusing on what Jesus has done for us will lead us to not only remember His great sacrifice but also to place the gospel commission He has given to us in its proper place above our earthly desires. And what greater blessing could we ever have than to see in heaven people whom we were able to minister to in this life. “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:32-33).