04/18/2020
Are we busy pursuing religious things to the point where we are neglecting our worship, and relationship with God? Do we put the things that we do to impress Him, and to show Him our dedication to His cause, above truly loving Him with all our heart, and walking with Him In the cool of the evening? Sometimes we think more of our labors during the day than the quiet times of repose we have with God. When all is said and done, which of these will be our greatest treasure, the things we have built of stone, or the moment of a single hug and kiss given in love?
“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’”
Luke 12:20 ESV
There is a wonderful poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called “The Children’s Hour”, in which a father is sitting in his armchair one evening and his children gleefully slip into the room and cover him with kisses. It is worth reading in its entirety, but it ends with the father wanting to keep that moment in his heart forever. It closes with these often quoted verses...
I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.
And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!
What is it about our relationship with God that He would want to keep us forever in His heart? Ask yourself, what moment with Him He would want to cherish forever? Does God treasure some deed we did during the day, or the pleasure of a nightly walk we take with Him?
“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?””
Genesis 3:8-9 ESV
Adam and Eve failed in the garden, but God sent Jesus to redeem that sin. He sent Christ to the the children of Adam, out of His loving memory of the walks... not His remembrance of Adam’s Past deeds, or present disobedience. Even now He finds occasion to call to us “Where are you?” In those moments when He calls to us are we hiding, and clothing ourselves In leaves, or do we spring from behind his chair to shower Him with our hugs and kisses?
God favored Noah, and David... and today He favors us; not by our works, but by His grace through love. He has chosen to extend His mercy and grace to us, but we must receive it by loving Him, and that takes belief, and faith. Our works don’t earn His favor... it is our love for Him, but even though our works alone are not enough, that same love He desires of us will make us want to serve Him. The key is to keep our works in their rightful place as gifts that represent our love, and not as tolls paid to secure His love, and a heavenly passage.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV
So, are we busy pursuing our religion, and neglecting the worship and loving relationship that God values so much? If we are then let’s adjust our priorities, and stop trying to earn our way into the good graces of God. Let’s hear the first great commandment and shower him first and foremost with our loving affection...
“Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”
Mark 12:29-30 ESV
Prayer:
Father, we thank you For loving us as you do, and allowing us to love you. We thank you for sending your Son Jesus to redeem us from sin, and defeat death so that we can abide with you forever. Teach us Lord to place our love for you above all else, and not to believe that our works impress you, and will in some way win your affection. Let your Holy Spirit give us understanding, and show us the comfort that walking with you brings. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who remembers your walks with Adam, and chooses to set aside, through Christ, your memory of his disobedience. Great are you in love, mercy, and grace! Praised be your name for all the blessings you have given us, and for your grace that pours over us like a warm oil. Hear our prayers Father as we walk through the garden in your presence, and enjoy our relationship. Glorious are you Lord, and all glory is yours; it is greater than the grandest cathedral, or our most beautiful work of art. There is none who compares with you, and we hold all else in creation as mere reflections of your glory. We desire to remember all our moments together With you as splendid, and to cherish them, and you, forevermore.
Rich Forbes
The Children's Hour
BY Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
That is known as the Children's Hour.
I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.
From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.
A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.
A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!
They climb up into my turret
O'er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.
They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!
Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!
I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.
And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!