Our Light Affliction
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 and 2
Corinthians 5:1,9-10,14-15 will be our verses to concentrate on this week. They state, "For our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are
not seen are eternal. For we know
that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from
God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Therefore, we make it our aim, whether
present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has
done, whether good or bad. For the
love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus; that if One died for all,
then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer
for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."
Since all of us are God's
children, we all have this "light affliction" Paul speaks of. It is interesting to note what these 2
words mean in the original Greek.
"Light" is translated "easy." "Affliction" means
"pressure, anguish, burden, persecution, tribulation, and/or
trouble." So, we could say
that the pressure we feel presently or the troubles we are experiencing now are
EASY!!! Yes, I agree with you that
sometimes the burdens we deal with sure don't seem easy...BUT remember what
Paul says next....they are only for a moment and they are "working for us
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen." This means that these afflictions are
accomplishing for us an abundance of dignity and honor that will last
forever. If we can wrap our minds
around this truth, we will be able to have victory another day, month, or year
until we see our Savior's face and then fully realize the truth of every word
in His Holy
Word.
If we do hold tight to the
exhortation to look at the things that are not seen, our aim will always be to
please God. The words "we
make it our aim...to be well pleasing to Him" in the original could be
"We labour...to be accepted of Him" or "We strive, study, are
eager...to be fully agreeable to Him." In other words, we seek to live for Him (not ourselves) when
it seems things are dark and we seek to live for Him (and not ourselves) when
things are going well. This is
what pleases Him. Do we HAVE to do
this? No, we don't...BUT if we are
His, we want to do this because "the love of Christ compels us." This word "compel" in the
original Greek is the word "constraineth" which means "compel or
force someone toward a particular course of action." This does NOT mean that Christ forces
us to live for Him. What it does
mean is that if you understand just a little bit of what Jesus did on the cross
for you, that little bit of knowledge makes you so thankful for what He did
that you have no other thought than to DESIRE to live for Him.
We pray that all of us may
remember this day and forever that we have "a building from God, a house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."