Some of us may remember many years ago when Cranleigh had a cinema. It was certainly different and the atmosphere was what it must have been like back in the thirties. One Christmas I, and some of the family, went there to see the latest James Bond film. The man in front of us in the queue put down a five-pound note and asked for two tickets. The woman behind the counter looked down at the fiver and looked back at the man with a puzzled expression. “Oh it’s gone up since I last came here,” said the man to which she replied, “yes and they talk”.
James Bond is always on His Majesty’s Service and no risk is too great or price too high to pay to make sure that the job gets done and the nation’s security is protected. He gets himself in all sorts of jams but he never seems to be phased out. He always shows total confidence and somehow it always seems to work out for him. How often do we Christians show a similar confidence to the world? Or put another way, do our actions match up to our words?
In today’s reading Paul reminds us we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us and that God loves us from the beginning of time. Should that not give us real confidence? Confidence to go out and show the love of Jesus to all we meet and declare His love for them? I am sure that James Bond would not hesitate to act but perhaps that’s because he underwent lots of training. I wonder how your training is going?