All tagged honor
Do you want to follow Jesus but have something you must do first? Has God ever called you to a specific purpose but the timing just wasn’t convenient for you? If that is the case, did you console yourself by saying "God understands that I will eventually come" or perhaps use some other rationalization? Well, think again. His table is set when He calls us, but if we delay then it will eventually be cleared, and the meal put away. Will we ignore Him, and arrive too late to dine?
Do you only commit a portion of yourself before God when He asks something of you? Do you use such language as "I will but", or, "just let me do this first", or perhaps you ask "what about this?" Do you place certain conditions on when, or whether, you will follow God's will for you? Maybe it's time we should just respond "here I am."
Born in a stable, wrapped in swaddling cloth, and then laid in a manger. How unlikely was it that this child would be a King, and conquer sin and death in the world? What makes His victory especially sweet? It isn’t that He won because that is true of every victory. What makes this victory triumphant, exceptionally joyous, and timeless, is that Jesus, the victor, was incredibly unlikely, and the chance of His victory seemed impossible by any measure. Yet despite all appearances He snatched victory from what seemed to be the jaws of certain defeat. This humble man, who rode astride a donkey’s colt, proved to be God incarnate, and He is more than our savior, He transforms us.
When we speak with Jesus Christ, and pray to our Heavenly Father in His name, do we keep in mind who Jesus truly is? As the years of our faith go by, and we come to know Him as friend through thousands upon thousands of prayers, it is easy to lose sight of the magnificence, and dominion of Christ; replacing His kingship with an air of proforma, and familiarity. This can lead us to approach Him as if we were His equal, and thus, we should be able to make demands of Him. When treating Him in this way we are attempting to increase who we are, and diminish who He is, but lest we forget our place in this relationship we need to remind ourselves often of the respect and glory He deserves from us, and all that He is, and has done for us.
How deep is our desire to be a child of God? Does knowing He is near cause us to breathe in short breaths, and rush to welcome Him home with loving arms? So often we see God served as if He were an honored, but never before met, dinner guest, and Jesus as His distant traveling companion who we don’t really know, just as He was unrecognized on the road to Emmaus. Do we greet them with formality, a handshake perhaps, instead of a holy kiss, and a seat at a side table instead of with our close friends? Is this our relationship; cordial, but not personal... at least until we need a miracle... some wine perhaps?