From One Extreme to the Other

I grew up in a household where my mother was diagnosed as what we today call a bipolar disorder. She would have these horrific mood swings that were often triggered by the smallest of incidents…and if I am totally honest, some of those incidents were cause by me. Often, she would go from elation to devastation, all in a matter of minutes…volatile mood swings from one extreme to the other.

The same can be said for each of us when it comes to our standing and relationship with Christ. At one moment, we are the chief among sinners; a vile and conniving reprobate that only wants to please ourselves… and then, when we accept what Christ did for us on the cross, we are saved into the family of God …an adopted child of the King with all its ranks and privileges.

James best captured those extremes in James 1:9-10, when he wrote, "Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass, he will pass away."   

You and I are that lowly brother when we compare ourselves to a Holy God…we have nothing on which to stand and plead our case…we are totally lost without his intervention through His Son, Jesus Christ. But, when we accept Him as our Savior, we are exalted and raised to new life in Christ…we have gone from one extreme to another!

And what of those of prominence, wealth and prosperity…those that would ask God to judge them on their accomplishments for Him (salvation by works)…they see themselves in positions of grandeur and authority, but they will be brought low as they bow before their maker and He declares, "Depart from me for I never knew you." They, too, will know what it means to go from one extreme to the other!

So, where are you today? Are you exalted by what God has done for you or will you be taken down to the lowest of lows in spite of your worldly position? Only you can answer that question…and it is a question with eternal consequences.

My prayer for you is that you would come to grips with your need for a Savior…. that in you time of admission that your are a sinner in need of God's grace, YOU WILL ACCEPT THE FREE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD…may that be your prayer today so that you may go from one extreme to the other.

Extremely thankful…living exaltedly,

WPQ