Secure yourself

Matthew 27: 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

Have you noticed how obsessed we are with security? Financial security, Home security, Airport security, Border security, Political security, Social Security, Job security, all of these topics dominate the conversation in America today. I believe it is becasue at the core level of our souls, we all want it deeply. We all want assurance, peace, rest and joy. We are designed to crave security from God, we just often misplace that security and in our own strengths create false securities. False securities are man made cover ups for sin led insecurities. Even though we all intuitively know that all of the things of this world are temporary, the temptation is strong to be busy at work covering our insecurities up with the things of this world that temporarily abate the insecurity pains.

It all reminds me of the above passge where Pilate is trying to cover up the murder of Jesus. The quote, "make it secure as you can" is fitting for the prideful players involved. Think about this with me for a second, Pilate conjured up the strength of the Roman Guard and a massive rock to make sure that Jesus would remain captive to the tomb. In his eyes there was truly nothing stronger around. He had one large problem though, God had another idea. Massive rocks and Roman guards are mere wisps of air compared to the power of Christ. As the rock is rolled away, and the guards flee from teh tomb in raw fear later in the book of Matthew, we get a real sense of what happens to man made security. It crumbles when God, the only true security available, shows up.

We would be wise to make sure that our lives do not mirror those of Pilate, The Jews and the Roman guard, busily setting up false security shelters. Sure we need to be wise and plan for future possibilities, but if those plans become the place you find your security watch out, God might just show up and tear them down.