Expiration Dates

“Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”

Joshua 23:14

One of the things that changed when the kids moved out was that we had to be more aware of expiration dates on bread, milk and other food products. Before that, we went through food fast enough that it was never an issue. In fact, I’m not sure we even knew that milk had an expiration date until John moved out. But no amount of preservatives can make food last forever, and for our information, and maybe our protection, an expiration date if printed on all perishable food products. And so if you see Nancy or I in the bread aisle at Kroger, you’ll see us reaching for the last loaf of bread in the back that has the farthest out expiration date.

Peter’s words on the day of Pentecost stand in contrast to that thought. When people saw the disciples after God had filled them with the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room, they were “amazed and perplexed” at the way they spoke and how they acted. Peter, however, stood up with an explanation, “This is what was promised by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people..’” Peter returned to a promise given over eight hundred years earlier to explain what was happening to the followers of Jesus. Or look at it this way: Peter quoted a promise given by God that had no expiration date.

In a world of expiration dates, we serve a God who honors His promises. He had promised Abraham that “all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.” The mistakes of Isaac, Jacob and Jacob’s sons didn’t cause it lapse, and the four hundred years in Egypt didn’t move the promise past its expiration date for one simple reason: the promises of God do not come with an expiration date!

My twenty-five percent off coupon to Family Bookstore had an expiration date of last
Thursday, January 8^th. I know that because I went shopping on Friday, January 9^th, and found out it was no longer of any value. But, thankfully, we never have that problem as we kneel in prayer or as we read the words of the Bible. There, we find great encouragement in knowing that the exceedingly great and precious promises given by a loving God thousands of years ago are still valid for you and I to stand on and to trust in today. Yes, there are no expiration dates when it comes to the love God has for us and the promises that flow out of that incredible love.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church