“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16)
Paul had a rough life because he just would not shut up about Jesus. In the chapter leading up to today’s verse, he described some of the ways that he had suffered.
You and I suffer, too. It might not be because we’re out there spreading the gospel, but every human being suffers. It’s part of being human on a sin-ravaged planet. From the moment we’re born, the clock starts ticking down to the moment we will die. Pain and decay come with the package.
Paul, who wrote these words, understood that better than anyone—but he refused to be discouraged by that clock. Why? Because he was focusing on a different clock. His great news about Jesus was that human beings could be made new—starting right now—through faith in Jesus.
From the moment that we are born again, that clock starts ticking forward to the moment the new Christlike us will be completed. We might be dying physically, but our real life is just beginning.
Think: Do you ever think about all the ways that life can be hard? Should we pretend that this life is not difficult? Where do you draw the line between being honest about the hard stuff in life and being encouraged about the reality of Jesus in you?
Pray: Thank God that he is renewing you “day by day” to be more and more like Jesus.
Do: Read 2 Corinthians 4 all the way through.