The Man Without Simple Comforts

Aaahhh, modern comforts, sometimes called “creature comforts.”  Don’t you love them? There are many and they make life easier.  They are also things that we take for granted.  For example, we have refrigerators that allow us to store and freeze food for long periods of time; supermarkets where the food has already been gathered for us; running hot water for showers or baths; air conditioning especially if you live in a hot climate; cars and airplanes to take us long distances in a short amount of time; smartphones to give us easy access to information and to communicate faster with friends and family; washing machines to clean our clothes.  Last but not least, we have comfortable beds to sleep in.  Now, I understand that not everyone on the planet has all these things.  Some have much more.  I do know that people across the globe appreciate a certain amount of creature comforts in their daily lives.  Modern technology has made major advances that make life easier for us humans.  But there was one human being born into this world who entered as the Unique Being of the universe.  His name was Jesus.  He was the Son of God born fully human and yet fully God.  His habitation was in heaven with the Father, and yet for our sakes, He took on human flesh to live as a man then die as one.  John 1:14 says, “And the Word (Jesus) became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  It is important to note that Jesus had to become human so He could pay the penalty for all humanity.  This is called “substitutionary atonement.” 

I wanted to encourage you today, if not just downright lift your spirits, and remind you of a wonderful Savior we have in Jesus.  My mother and I shared a love for this hymn, and I wanted to share the words with you today.  The hymn is called Ivory Palaces, and the chorus goes like this: “Out of the ivory palaces into a world of woe, only his great eternal love made my Savior go.”  Jesus existed in a place of ultimate comfort.  Heaven is like creature comforts on steroids.  You cannot get any more comfortable than heaven and if you know Jesus, you will meet Him there.  Yet, He left heaven for us and in His earthly life and ministry, he often went cold and hungry.  The Bible describes Jesus as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  In our verse today, Jesus is explaining to a man that you can follow me, and although God in His care for the animal kingdom provided places of safety and comfort to the foxes and birds, many times I don’t even have a bed to sleep in or a nice comfortable place to call My home.  Jesus suffered a horrible death on the cross, but He also did not live an easy life.  He decided to forgo everything He deserved for the sake of the lost world of humanity.  As the hymn says, “only His great eternal love made my Savior go!!!!”

Dave F. 

    ‘69 / ‘76 Egg Harbor Twp   NJ