1 Thessalonians 1:10
RESCUED FROM WRATH
I don’t like to read instructions. Sometimes they are not easy to follow, especially the ones that are folded up like an origami animal with writing in twenty languages, printed on both sides of nearly transparent paper, in a four-point font. You know, the ones that were originally written in Mandarin and translated into English by Google translate. Oh, there is the English, right between Latvian and Yoruba.
Why did I need this high tech digital light switch anyway? Is it too much effort to flip the thing on and off? Sound familiar?
Before throwing in the towel my friend, go to YouTube. I know that this is not news to some of you, but it may be news to some others. Amazingly, there are video instructions on YouTube to do just about anything. Leaving aside the question as to why so many people would take the time to record and post this or that, especially since many of these videos are anonymous, the point is that a two minute video can elucidate even the most cryptic instructions.
This is what God had to do. The written instructions existed but could not be completely followed. God had to provide something that we could see and hear. But it was more than a video. It was Jesus. He was able to follow the instructions.
In this instruction book, there was a severe penalty imposed for not following the instructions. Despite following them perfectly, Jesus chose to accept that penalty on behalf of all of the people not able to follow the instructions. This is cause for celebration.
Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus (Latvian)
Merry Christmas
ikini ọdun keresimesi (Yoruba)
–Sam Ciccarello