Why This Old Testament Verse Is So Special - It's Full Of The Gospel

There's one promise in the Old Testament that I believe prefigures the gospel more than any other.
It's in Joel 2:25, and in the King James Version I grew up with it says: 'I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.'

It's written after the prophet has depicted a horrifyingly destructive plague of locusts, that he characterises as being like a great army devouring everything in its path, darkening even the sun with their numbers. It's a judgment on the people for their sins, he says. There is ruin and starvation; animals and people die and only the locust is left to triumph.

In parts of the world even today this is a dreadful reality. There are still swarms of locusts and they are still terrible destroyers. But Joel's words speak of a deeper spiritual truth. It isn't just lack of food and economic ruin he's talking about; it's a spiritual wasteland too. Many of us face this at some point in our lives. We don't know why, but everything falls apart – perhaps the job, or the marriage, or the relationship with children or parents or church; perhaps health, perhaps the loss of someone we love.
It can be very hard to see any hope beyond those dark times. But that's when Joel's words are most powerful: 'I will restore to you the years the locust has eaten.'

It's a promise of hope and an assurance of God's enduring love for us. And it foreshadows the gospel in this: that when Jesus died, the lives of his disciples were as desolate as the land of Israel, laid waste by the locust invasion. But God restored to them what had been taken from them, and more: the resurrection of Christ meant that a new, better and richer life could begin.

The idea of that swarm of locusts creates a visceral reaction in us of horror and fear. That mirrors the experiences we go through when we are beaten down by what life throws at us. But the promise of restoration is sealed with the resurrection, and God always keeps his promises.

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The Land of Truth

A certain man believed that the ordinary waking life, as people know it, could not possibly be complete. He sought the real Teacher of the Age. He read many books and joined many circles, and he heard the words and witnessed the deeds of one master after another. He carried out the commands and spiritual exercises which seemed to him to be most attractive.

He became elated with some of his experiences. At other times he was confused; and he had no idea at all of what his stage was, or where and when his search might end.
This man was reviewing his behavior one day when he suddenly found himself near the house of a certain sage of high repute. In the garden of that house, he encountered Khidr, the secret guide who shows the way to truth.

Khidr took hihm to a place where he saw people in great distress and woe, and he asked who they were. “We are those who did not follow real teachings, who were not true to our undertakings, who revered self-appointed teachers,” they said.

Then the man was taken by Khidr to a place where everyone was attractive and full of joy. He asked who they were. “We are those who did not follow the real Signs of the Way,” they said.
“But if you have ignored the Signs, how can you be happy?” asked the traveler.

“Because we chose happiness instead of Truth,” said the people, “just as those who chose the self-appointed chose also misery.”

“But is happiness not the ideal of man?” asked the man.

“The goal of man is Truth. Truth is more than happiness. The man who has Truth can have whatever mood he wishes, or none,” they told him. “We have pretended that Truth is happiness, and happiness Truth, and people have believed us, therefore you, too, have until now imagined that happiness must be the same as Truth. But happiness makes you its prisoner, as does woe.”

Then the man found himself back in the garden with Khidr beside him.

“I will grant you one desire,” said Khidr.

“I wish to know why I have failed in my search and how I can succeed in it,” said the man. “You have all but wasted your life,” said Khidr, “because you have been a liar. Your lie has been in seeking personal gratification when you could have been seeking Truth.”

“And yet I came to the point where I found you,” said the man, ” and that is something which happens to hardly anyone at all.”

“And you met me,” said Khidr, “because you had sufficient sincerity to desire Truth for its own sake, just for an instant. It was that sincerity, in that single instant, which made me answer your call.”

Now the man felt an overwhelming desire to find Truth, even if he lost himself.

Khidr, however, was starting to walk away, and the man began to run after him.

“You may not follow me,” said Khidr, “because I am returning to the ordinary world, the world of lies, for that is where I have to be, if I am to do my work.”

And when the man looked around him again, he realized that he was no longer n the garden of the sage, but standing in the Land of Truth.

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3 Things Christians Do That Drive Unbelievers Away From Christ

Real Christians are people who profess to follow Christ with their lives, not just their lips. Their lives are great testimonies of God's goodness, and they live to obey the great commission that the Lord Jesus Himself gave, saying:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen." (Matthew 28:19-20)

Driving People Away From Christ
One great irony, however, is that many who are commanded to bring the love of God in Christ to people fail to do it. Instead of letting people see the great love of God demonstrated in the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, these people show the opposite: that they are the ones who need more of God's love compared to those who don't know Him yet.
I've written this article in the hopes of helping you, dear reader, avoid the mistakes that many Christians do that drive unbelievers away from Christ. It's God's desire for all men to be saved (see 1 Timothy 2:4), and it's our role to bring the message of God's salvation to all men through our lips, hands, and lives.
3 Things We Do That Drive Unbelievers Away From Christ
Here are some actions that will drive away unbelievers from the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Being 'Un-Christ-Like'
Christ-likeness, which should be the goal and pursuit of every Christian as according to God's will (see Romans 8:28-29), is a very important thing. I'm pretty sure you've heard of some who leave the church because of the apparent "hypocrisy" by other church leaders and people – this hypocrisy stemming from failing to "walk the talk."
We cannot preach the Gospel of such a loving Saviour and then live like we don't know Him. We can't profess to be a Christian or Christ-follower and then live like we're sons of the devil. Such hypocrisy drives people, including believers, away from the Lord we profess.
2. Being Like The World Itself
We cannot say we love God and then act like the very people that hate Him. James 4:4 tells us,

"You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

If we dress up, talk like, and behave like people who don't know Christ and have repented of our sins, the sins that He bore for us, what makes us different from the unbelieving?
3. Not Loving Others

"The servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but must be gentle toward all people, able to teach, patient, in gentleness instructing those in opposition." (2 Timothy 2:24-25)

The Bible is chock-full of instruction regarding the importance of love for our brothers and sisters. Yes, we're told to preach the Gospel to those outside the church because God loves them and wants them to be saved, but we're also commanded to love each other as the sign of real and genuine Christianity.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35)

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Friday inspiration

You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily.  The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. 
~John Maxwell

I am not just a survivor, I am a flourisher.
~Mary Tyler Moore

When one door closes, another door opens; but we so often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.
~Alexander Graham Bell

Be loyal to those who are not present.  In doing so, you build the trust of those who are present. 
~Steven Covey

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns,

or rejoice because thorns bushes have roses. 

~Abraham Lincoln

My success just evolved from working hard at the business at hand each day.

~Johnny Carson

Patton was dyslexic. Eisenhower was dirt poor. Churchill had horrendous depression problems, and drinking was a factor. FDR was crippled. An awful lot of people in World War II focused on what they were able to do. It’s about rising to the challenge, and about what you can do, not what you can’t. It’s important to emphasize that.

~Ken Rendell, owner of the Museum of World War II, Natick, Massachusetts

You only have one shot at life, 
so you don’t have the time for an intermission. 
~Dan Sachkowsky

The most difficult thing is the decision to act – the rest is merely tenacity.
~Amelia Earhart 

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.
~Audrey Hepburn