As Jesus followers, we are called to have a Resurrection perspective in life. Such a perspective gives you an attitude of Abundance, which makes us more likely to love our neighbors, serve other people, and help those in need—all the Jesus kind of things. The opposite attitude is one of Scarcity, where we want to keep as much for ourselves as possible, not willing to listen or share, we’re very touchy, and we get over-reactive.

I have found myself saying this a lot this week: “I’m tired of thinking about the coronavirus.” Have you said or thought that too? I’m sure I said it a lot a year ago, but in corona-time, a year is like a decade and a month is like a year. So last summer was like a different era. And this summer felt different too, but in a good way. As more people were getting vaccinated, more things were possible, and it was great. I was excited and energized about non-stop improvements in health and safety…

when the Jews were exiled to Babylon, it was soul-crushing and spiritually devastating. Not only were they far from home, but they thought they were far from the very presence of God—between 700 and 1,000 miles away, depending on where in Babylon they ended up. So how could they even worship God, since they couldn’t go to the building where they thought God dwelt? That was the motivation for the lament in Psalm 137, “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion…. How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” (vv. 1, 4)