Thank You ISIS

For those of us who claim to "know the Bible" to be regularly reading the Bible, we are in a very difficult reality.  We read a book written by men, under the inspiration of God's Spirit, which then through the human personalities contains the very Word(s) of God.  We place our lives, the current living out of these realities, and our eternal destinies in this Word of God.  And yet at times there is a massive breakdown in understanding just what some of these authors, even whose experiences were what God chose to report to us, are still today (some 3500-2000 years later) applicable to us.  It is to this I say: Thank you ISIS.

Thank you ISIS...for helping me understand better what is conveyed in God's Word about the depravity of humanity.  I have read it over and over and over again, that man is cursed, fallen, ruined because of sin, and enemies of God (Rom. 5:10). I heard it from Solomon..."Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins" (Ecc. 7:20).  I hear it from David..."I was brought for in iniquity" (Ps. 51:5).  I hear it from Jesus as He says, "Why do you call Me good?  There is only ONE who is good" (Matt. 19:17).  I hear it from Paul (Rom 3:9-19; Eph. 2:1-3, 5).  And I have ceaselessly nodded my head (figuratively) in reading those, but never thought much of how capable the wickedness of mankind is in his depraved state.  ISIS, you remind me with blatant force just how depraved humanity is.  Your wickedness shows me just how evil and wicked our hearts really are.  It terrifies me to think that apart from grace I too would be equally distant from God, even if our sinful expressions were different.  And in all this, it also reveals to me just how great the grace of this JESUS really is, for I too was a wretched, sinful, wicked, enemy of God...before His grace found me and rescued me.

Thank you ISIS... for helping me see better at least a shadow of the end that appears to be nearing.  I have often read the words of Christ in the gospels, when His own disciples are asking for clarity on when Christ will return.  He spoke of all the beginning "birth pains" (Matt. 24:3-8) but then went on to say, "...they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated...for my name's sake."  And yet, amid reading this I have often set my heart on temporal joys, and the present worldly pursuits.  But Jesus didn't want me to dwell in this, but in a great hope, a coming hope.  Clearly you (ISIS) are not the first to afflict tribulation even unto death upon Christians, but the graphic nature in which you do it, burns into the fibers of our minds and calls me, and hopefully calls us, to think about the end.  Christ told us this was coming, and I'm so glad He did.  You (ISIS) point me toward Christ.  I long all the more for His return.  I ache for His justice.  I yearn for Him to be savored and enjoyed among those He saves.  And I see the nearing of His return in your disgusting violence and hatred. 

In that same regard, thank you ISIS... for helping me see the reality that this world, in the condition it is in, is not my home.  I have often thought of how difficult it would be to endure the endlessness of eternity.  Ironically though somewhere in all my immature thinking I figured I could enjoy life here on earth, as is, forever and ever (if somehow that were even possible).  But the reality is, I hate this misery.  I hate this pain.  I hate the sinfulness of the sins of others (yours included).  And I hate my own sinful wanderings away from Christ.  I long for that day where truly in this new earth it "will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD" (Hab. 2:14).  I long for that day when I will enter into the "joy of [my] Master" (Matt. 25:21).  I long for that day when there is no longer any pain, any sorrow, any death (all these things that you - ISIS - love to inflict) because CHRIST has flexed His authoritative muscle and shown the utter powerlessness of any and all of His enemies (Rev. 21:1-4).  And then, finally, forever and ever, we will see in fullness what we but see and know in part now: that everything is in subjection to Christ, with nothing outside of His control (Heb. 2:8).  Your constant reminders from the heinous sins you commit and subject people to, reminds me of a day.  ONE DAY...Christ will prove the victory He has already secured.

And lastly, thank you ISIS...for killing many who name the name of Christ.  What you thought to be the greatest offense to them and to their families...and what you thought to be the most terrifying of images you could leave with the rest of the world...and what you thought to be the most horrific of pictures to leave branded upon the minds of any and all who name the name of Christ - this has instead been a great reminder to me that nothing of the sort is the ultimately reality.  What do I mean? Thank you ISIS for killing these martyrs because immediately, at the point of their exiting this world,  they too saw Christ "standing at the right hand of God" (Acs 7:56) welcoming them into His glory.  At the point of their last breath, as their real life escaped their bodies they were immediately made to be "at home with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23). Thank you ISIS for seemingly expediting their entrance into this LIFE with CHRIST.  And now they participate in a great joy, a great comfort, in something that is never to change, or weaken, or cease, while you currently suffer.  

In all this, thank you ISIS...for helping me see better the greatness and glory of the person of CHRIST and His marvelous grace for me, a sinner just like you, in need of His saving work, even that we might know HIM, the ONLY WAY unto SALVATION.  You've brought His Word(s) to life once more, in a powerful way.  Thank you ISIS.