Day 31---YOLO?

1 And this is the false argument they use, 'Our life is short and dreary, there is no remedy when our end comes, no one is known to have come back from Hades.

12 Let us lay traps for the upright man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life, reproaches us for our sins against the Law, and accuses us of sins against our upbringing.

WISDOM 2: 1,12

You never thought the Bible will talk about YOLO, did you? Well, look at that! The book of Wisdom still applies to us today! The men being talked about falsely reasoned that life is 'short and hard, so let's do whatever we want and then punish those who try to tell us we are wrong and who oppose our way of life!' You only live once. Yes, this is true. Except your soul is immortal... so it's more like... 

YOLFAYDIYWTEUIHOH: You only live forever and you decide if you want to end up in Heaven or Hell.

And if you think, 'oh well, I'm a good person, I wouldn't go to hell' well, let me tell you that hell is not only the place for thieves, murderers, and rapists, but for those who willfully reject God and His grace. Like, for example, when we say 'look God, I know this is what you ask me to do, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to do this instead' or when we have an encounter with God, He shows us His love and mercy, and we still choose our sinful life rather than to repent and be healed. 

In the words of Stephen Colbert: Yahweh or No way! Heaven will always be unattainable if it weren't for Christ's sacrifice on the cross--so it's not like only those who are absolutely perfect go there. But, like we've said before, you gotta want it, you gotta strive for it, you gotta attempt to earn it.

And look, here the book of Wisdom is telling us that those who follow the way of the Lord can expect much persecution because people are just not going to like to be reminded of what they are supposed to do. Yeah, you might lose friends over it, even family members might stop talking to you or treat you badly.   And it's going to be hard. And sometimes people will lay traps for you and will try to make you fall so they can say 'see, not so holy after all, huh?' But always keep in mind that Jesus had to go through the same thing: they tested him and couldn't make him fall, so they ended up arresting him, torturing him, and killing him. 

So when it gets rough, just remember: God is on your side! Don't be afraid! Keep your eyes on the Lord! When you are being persecuted, then remind yourself that you must be on the right track. Yours is the kingdom of Heaven! Don't believe me? Then believe Jesus, because he literally said the exact same thing:

"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10).