Once Upon a Time
John 3:16 Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.
The other morning, I received an email with a cartoon that really tickled my fancy. It was kind of like this folksy, little postcard with an old lady and a little girl sitting on her lap. And the little girls says, “Granny, do all fairy tales begin with ‘Once Upon a Time?’”
“No darling”, says the grandmother. “There’s a whole series of them that begin, ‘If elected, I promise to … ’ ”
I guess we can all relate to that. Politicians soon discover that there’s a big difference between promising the world during the euphoria of the election campaign and the realities of delivering on those promises, once they’re elected. Delivering is hard work. There are a whole bunch of things and people and situations that conspire against us delivering.
You and I, we both know what it is to over-promise and under-deliver. I used to do a lot of that when I was young. I guess I was trying to impress people with the promises that I could make … but then it would come unstuck time and again through under-delivering. So the more grey hairs that started popping out of my head, the more I came to the conclusion that you’re far better off doing the exact opposite: under-promising and over-delivering.
The Old Testament contains quite a few promises about the coming of a Messiah. Centuries before He was born, the Holy Spirit inspired Moses, the prophets, the kings and others to speak about the coming of Jesus.
But the promises were veiled, they weren’t clear. They had people looking for a Messiah, but they were looking in the wrong direction. In a very real sense, God had the wisdom to under-promise, on the coming of the Messiah.
And when He did come, He didn’t look like much. A carpenter’s son from a crummy little town called Nazareth, miles from the epicentre of religious and political power in Jerusalem.
But once Jesus began His public ministry, the power of the Messiah was clear for all to see. And it was at that Cross, the power of God’s promises was fully revealed. Because even though He had deliberately under-promised, on that Cross – God over-delivered.
This humble carpenter from Nazareth – He promised so little, and yet He delivered so much.
Jesus
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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