For the Sake of the Elect

I was reminded tonight that the only sure thing in this life is Jesus.

I won't bother with the details; they aren't mine to tell. But I will tell you, I got a good glaring reminder of how uncertain everything is, except for Jesus, our Rock. If our faith or hope or confidence is placed anywhere else, in a spouse or a job or ourselves, we are on slippery ground indeed.

This will sound unspiritual, but I'm reminded of a quote from "The Princess Bride" :

"Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says different is selling something." --Wesley

True words. Life is pain. Or, to quote another favorite movie:

"But there's one thing I know and I know it for sure,
This disease that we've got has got no ready cure
And I'm certain life is terribly hard."
-- Jekyll and Hyde The Musical

Except whenever I sing that song, I change the words slightly:

"This disease that we've got has got only One Cure."

Because it's true. Without Jesus, life is hard. Life is pain. Life has no cure. But with Him . . . life is worth the living, worth the struggle, worth the pain.

Thank God it doesn't last forever. Thank God we have hope.

One other verse comes to mind tonight:

"Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many . . . At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other . . . For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened."
Matt. 24:4-22

Help us stand firm, Lord Jesus. And come quickly. Come quickly, Lord.