Thought of the Day !!

And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so I, the Son of Man, must be lifted up on a pole, so that everyone who believes in me will have eternal life.
John 2:14-15

While doing some research for last Sunday's sermon I came across an interesting fact in a couple of my commentaries. The Greek work used here for "lifted up" has a dual meaning. It can also mean to exalt, or glorify.

This got me to thinking about who we lift up, exalt or glorify in today's world. Our culture teaches us what is to be desired, and the ones who have these special gifts seem to be the one's who we, as a society, lift up. Think about this. Super-models are what many girls and young women want to look like. Many boys and young men want to have someone who looks like this to date or marry. In another era, these girls may not have been all the craze because they would be too skinny. But in our culture we glorify those beautiful ladies because of what they have...good looks. The same goes with actors and actresses. We rush to box office every time our favorite star comes out with a new movie.

In today's world, our culture teaches us that happiness lies with power, prestige, fame and wealth. And who better fits this description than Donald Trump. We exalt this man because he created an empire for himself. He's got it all, supposedly (even a super-model girlfriend).

Then there are those professional athletes that I'm always hearing people complain about how much money they make. But in reality, they only make this because we, as a society, lift them up so highly. And we do this because so many want to be able to dunk like Kobe, hit a homer like Bonds or throw a pass like either of the Manning's.

So we lift up these people whom society has deemed "great". We talk about them, as well as politicians and other kinds of leaders throughout the week. But how often during our conversations do we lift up the name of Jesus? He said that he must be lifted up. But often times I think we get so caught up in this world of ours that he gets forgotten.

Lets see how many ways we can think of to lift Christ up this week (other than on Sunday morning).

In the love of Christ,
greg