I'm reading the passage, nodding my head, "Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.
"Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory." Psalm 24:7-10 NKJV
"Ok, what great verses," I think. I've read them many times. "Lift up your heads,... the King of glory is... strong and mighty, ...Lord of Hosts, etc."
I say I believe it. If anyone challenged me with, "Do you believe this is true?" I'd give a quick reply. "Of course I believe it's true!"
Waking last week, I had only one idea in my head. Not such a shocking idea, except it hit me like a blow to the heart: "What would today look like if I were fully devoted to Christ? If every impulse of my own, every ambition, and every want, were surrendered to Jesus?"
All day long, I carried the thought into the attitudes and actions of my experiences. "Hmm, that lady is sure slow. Move over already! I want to pass you. Now." I was walking behind a window shopper who was dawdling on the sidewalk.
"Oh, I hate when they bring that up," listening to a conversation. "Always the same old complaints."
"I wonder if I can go to ... later?" daydreaming while someone was talking to me.
"Can I get out of this chore?" scheming on how to maximize my time over someone else's.
When I went to bed that night, I was aware of many times I had failed to give to others the kind attention and love Christ gives me. I was utterly humiliated by my incongruity. It's not gross sin that derails me. I am smitten by the inconsistency between what I say I believe and how I act. By how inappropriate my selfishness is, putting my desires before the best I can do for others.
The One I claim to serve is Lord of hosts (boss over angelic multitudes). I need someone that big to remind me that he is Central to all being and to all beings. There's no value in emptying myself into nothingness (like Hinduism or Buddhism). I need to accept his forgiveness for flaws and failures, allowing him to fill me completely with his thoughts and life, his love and his strength.
No wonder he is the King of glory! Splendid in power and majesty. Holy and set apart from created things. Worthy of all adoration and praise.
I believe it. With all my heart. "So how would today look, if I were utterly, absolutely devoted to him?"
Read more:
*Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Psalm 115:1
*This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD. Jer. 9:23-24 NIV *Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth..." Matthew 5:1-5 NIV
*Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 NIV
When I was a girl I recall my Dad saying on several occasions after we got home, following a sermon, "The preacher quit preachin' and started meddlin' today. Of course, his point was that what was said brought conviction and challenge. Welcome to the world of meddlin'.
ReplyDeleteThe reality is, we judge ourselves by our good intentions, and judge others by their actions! Thanks for the humbling reminder....