TURNAROUND June 14, 2020

I must admit: there are a few words in the English language I really like the sound of, and some of them (probably because of how the letter “R” rolls) are “ricochet”, “roundabout”, and “turnaround”.  I get the impression of the last word upon reading today’s devotional, on the apostle Peter’s second general epistle, chapter 1.

We read in the Gospels of how Simon Peter, a zealous fisherman-turned disciple, was so close to the Messiah to the point of asking Him for clarifications on His teachings; to having his mother-in-law cured of sickness (and may I ask, why would he be living with and caring for his mother-in-law? as the head of the family, shouldn’t he be living with his family in his own father’s house, as many Eastern customs dictate?); to promising of loyalty and faithfulness; to being among the very few who saw the reunion of the supernatural Jesus with Moses and Elijah on the mountain; then slicing off the ear of one of the soldiers who arrested Jesus; yet denying Him in front of the high priest’s office; and then after Jesus was resurrected, was the only one whom Jesus asked three times if he really loved Him.

We see a man whose life made a complete turnaround from catching fish, to fishing for men’s souls; from earning an earthly living for subsistence, to preaching the gospel and earning a place as one of GOD’s elders in His kingdom; from living a life of endless drudgery fishing in the Sea of Galilee, to one who lived a dramatic and powerful life as one of the twelve apostles of Jesus; who when He died (as foretold by Jesus personally to him and as written in the history books of Josephus and other early church scholars), had his eyes gouged out by the Roman authorities, then brutalized by the gladiators and lastly, fed to the hungry lions in the Colosseum.

I realize that like the apostle Peter, whom we honor as one of the founders of Christianity until now, and whose name literally endures, that it is ordinary people who lead boring, simple lives who, when they answer GOD’s call to serve Him, become true heroes for others and are worthy examples of the kind of lives we should live today.

During these bleak pandemic season (for like all other seasons, this too shall pass; and may yet return some other time, but still within a limited time period), we learn that GOD disrupted the ordinary, monotonous, normal lives we lived before.  If we would but lay down our fears and anxiety, we would hear that GOD is actually calling us to live differently.  This is not the time to show to the world how good we are looking, how great we are doing, how expert we have become at cooking, baking, dancing or making videos.  This is the time we make a complete turnaround of our lives, and do what must be done to give people hope and encouragement, to lend a helping hand, to do the utmost we can to preserve our families and our relationships, and to hold each other’s hand firmly (figuratively, that is, because of social distancing), so we all weather this storm together safe, healthy, sane and spiritually grown.

Instead of the gladiators and lions, we have an unseen but deadlier enemy.  If it means we sacrifice our comforts and convenience to fight for our lives and souls and that of our loved ones too, then may we make a complete turnaround of our principles and habits in order to live better, more meaningful lives that is invested not only in the here and now, but in the hereafter and the forevermore.