His Guarantee

The emblems graphically picture what has to happen for joy to come. The pattern holds for life as a whole and for its segments. Meantime, living for him calls for effort, struggle, even suffering for there to be a “not yet” that is worth it all. The harder the labor, the more fulfilling the results. If we’re not willing to deal with the humiliation, we’re not worthy of receiving the exaltation.

In everyday work, we sometimes put out a lot of effort that does not yield the desired result. Such is the uncertainty of human endeavor. But the consequence we hope for in Christ leaves no uncertainty, because it comes not so much from our effort as from his guarantee. Living well now is a condition for having life hereafter, not the cause of it. Hope comes from God as well as the joy that’s in it, and these emblems represent what it often takes just to meet the condition for receiving the consequences.

Observing the reminders unites us with Christ and his hope, as well as that over-and-above joy that our own doing would not itself guarantee.