Too Good to be True

Have you ever received news that seemed too good to be true? I was recently watching the local news when a story aired about a Denver couple, who, after calling their mortgage lender, were congratulated and told that their mortgage had been paid in full, and their account was now closed. Though they knew they were close to paying off this debt, they had no idea they were that close. They decided to seek the help of an investigative journalist at one of our local stations. After a week of investigative phone calls to the lender, the account mysteriously reopened, and sure enough the couple had about $20,000 left to pay on their mortgage.

Ugggh. Can you imagine? Talk about hopes rising and falling. It reminds a little of the story we see unfold in Luke 24. Devastated by the death of Jesus, three women approached the tomb on the third day, only to find it empty. I can only imagine what they must have thought and felt in that moment. I’m sure they were taken back to the last days they had spent with Christ when He had clearly told His followers that He would raise from the dead on the third day. But in the tragic moment of His death many thought it was just too good to be true, and soon dismissed the idea all together.

“When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.” Luke 24:9, 11

Friends, the hope that is available to us who believe in Christ is unimaginable at times. We get caught up in our earthly trials and circumstances and the very thought of eternity in Heaven with our Lord seems like nonsense. Do you suppose if we tried with all our might to focus heavenward, rather than on the earthly, that hope might be more realistic? Not just too good to be true, but true!?!

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13b-14