While reading through the Gospels over the last few weeks I noticed that all four gospels include the detail of Christ being wrapped in a linen cloth when He was buried. It struck me as a curious detail to be included, especially in all four gospels. Seemed like something worth looking into a bit more.
My search brought me back to the 16th chapter of Leviticus where the instructions for the Day of Atonement are given. This was the one day during the year that the high priest entered into the Holy Place, where the Presence of God dwelt, and put the blood on the mercy seat to atone for the sins of the people. When performing this ceremony, he was to be dressed as follows:
“He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water, and put them on.” Leviticus 16:4
What amazing significance this passage gives to the linen cloth that Christ was buried in. For when Christ rose, He performed the high priestly duties of the Day of Atonement, bringing His own blood into the Holy Place for the forgiveness of our sins.
I can only marvel at the perfection of God’s plan, completed to the last detail in Christ.
How many times have you been reminded of the importance of the way you live “because the world is watching”? Many times I have acknowledged the importance of this in my own heart. But if we’re not careful we can become more interested in how our behavior appears to others than how our heart is before the Lord. While I in no way diminish the importance of living in such a way as to not bring dishonor to the name of Christ, I would propose that there are two ways of doing this.
The first way is by way of the nice person syndrome. It is a fabricated façade placed before the watching eyes of others, that conforms to the proper etiquette of the day so as not to offend anyone. It does not reflect anything of what is going on in the heart, but is purposely designed to be what is expected from others. This life is dominated by a desire to please others, to have their approval and to know that they think well of us. We present to people a self that is not us at all.
The second way is the overflow life. It is effortless in that there is no need for pretense. Regardless of what people expect or what society demands, we are living before an audience of One and our desire is only to please Him. We are glad when in the process of living for Him we are also able to please others as well. But the overflow life makes no allowances for putting the desires of any man above the desires of Christ. We live an authentic life, with our words and deeds motivated only by our longing to bring glory to Christ.
Those who live the overflow life, who are living before an audience of One, will be misunderstood. This is a certainty. The world will not appreciate our devotion to One other than themselves. But we were not called to be appreciated. We were called to follow and obey, which is something that the world cannot understand. Let the world watch, and let them marvel.
My dear Jesus, the world may be a curious onlooker, but I am living for Your eyes only.
Reaching heavenward
With sighs and tears
Longing for a glimpse of Your glory
I have read the stories
And I have desired
To live it
An outpouring of Your presence
Though it leave me in the dust
Face down and trembling
Over the sinfulness of such a frail creature as myself
Before a holy, holy, holy God
Turn Your face toward me, oh God
And look upon Your daughter
See the yearning in my heart
To know You
Oh that You would rend the heavens
And pour out Your glory
My heart aches, it breaks with longing
As I eagerly await the day
Whether in life or death
The day I will see Your glory
When I will know
Even as I am known
Matthew 26:6-9 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.”
Mary seemed to have no difficulty giving Jesus her very best or expressing her devotion to Him in full view of those who were present. Surely they would have understood – they were His disciples, the ones most intimately acquainted with Him.
They did not.
Following Christ, witnessing the miracles, hearing His teachings, receiving insight into the mysteries of heaven, and even ministering the gospel of the kingdom with miraculous signs, the disciples failed to fully grasp the value of Christ.
“Why this waste?”
When holy things become common to us, when the sense of reverent awe and wonder is lost, worship seems wasteful. There are other, more beneficial things I can do with my money, time (__________ insert the thing of value that is too precious to you to lavish upon Jesus).
Have we forgotten that worship is more than singing a song or mouthing some religious sounding words? If our heart has not been captivated by how supremely valuable our God is, are these things really worship? And if He does not have our heart Monday – Saturday, does it really mean that much to Him if we show up in church on Sunday?
Oh, how my heart cries to be one who lavishes my all upon Him! Dear friends, let us press on to know Him, to love Him and worship Him with the fervency and devotion He is worthy of. For absolutely nothing is wasted that is given to Jesus.
Tragedy has a way of bringing hidden things to light. I am thinking primarily of inner things, like attitudes and motives. It would surely be an exaggeration to categorize hurricane Gustav as a tragedy for me personally, but it was most certainly a terrible inconvenience. Over the course of the days that followed there was a wide range of emotions that I have dealt with: sorrow over all the damage that had been done to our city; irritation with all the inconvenience associated with daily life; and sadness because I felt that little concern was shown by people I know in other parts of the country for how I might have been affected by the storm. This last one has been most troubling to me.
As I have pondered this issue (for it has affected me deeply), I have taken it to the Lord in prayer. Although it may be a factual issue, I was concerned that my heart was not right in this matter and that offense was beginning to creep in. So I cried my sorrow out to the Lord and asked Him to adjust my perspective and to help me see this situation as He did.
That night as I was finishing up the book of Colossians, I read these words written by the apostle Paul in the final verse – Remember my chains. I felt the Lord drawing my attention to that verse, so I stopped and read it again. Yes, this is what I want. I want someone to remember my chains. I have felt forgotten. Neglected. Somebody should remember me.
Feeling quite self satisfied, as though this Scripture justified the ugliness that was growing in my heart, I breathed a sigh of relief, certain that God was on my side and that my hurt feelings were warranted. But so softly and more gently than I deserved at that moment, He spoke to me through that verse – “Whose chains have you remembered?”
I had no defense. I had no excuse. Utterly ashamed, I could only cry out “No one’s Lord!”
So, before the world (whoever may be reading this) I confess that there was a plank in my own eye while I was angry about the speck in yours. And I pray that the Lord will help me to remember the chains of others and forget my own.
I am so very grateful for the Lord’s mercy. My house was spared. The tree will be removed tomorrow, but all indications are that there was no significant damage.
As happy as this makes me, it is still tinged with sadness. There are many who were not so fortunate. Please continue to pray for my city.
This is a view of the tree taken from inside my back door.
“For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.” Colossians 2:5
What adjectives would you use to describe your faith? Strong? Weak? Bold? Easily shaken? The apostle Paul used the word firm. Strong’s defines firm as “that which furnishes a foundation on which a thing rests firmly.” Webster’s gives the following definitions: securely or solidly fixed in place; not weak or uncertain; having a solid or compact structure that resists stress or pressure; not easily moved or disturbed.
What the apostle Paul rejoiced in was the firmness of the Colossians’ faith. It was a solid faith, not easily moved or disturbed. It was a faith that was foundational to the entirety of life; substantial and able to provide strength and support. If this type of faith is desirable, how can such a faith be obtained? Many times in my own life I have felt faith-deficient. My faith has seemed small as I have battled various fears and dealt with unanswered prayers. My faith has seemed weak when compared to others who appeared to have no difficulty believing God for impossible things. Oh how I have desired to have a firm faith, but it was seemingly beyond my grasp. I had not been able to comprehend the secret to obtaining such a faith.
But the secret to firm faith is revealed in the rest of the verse and it is the same secret that energizes the whole of the Christian experience. It is these two words – in Christ.
As is so often the case, my struggles are due to a misplaced base of operations. I have a tendency to look in myself for the strength, determination, faith, commitment, etc., that are necessary to live victoriously as a Christian. All too often my level of faith corresponds to my perception of my performance at that moment. For instance, have I prayed long enough? Have I read an adequate number of chapters of the Bible? Have I behaved appropriately today? The foolishness of this is not always so readily apparent, but a few moments of careful reflection would reveal the absurdity of such a thing. The apostle Paul said “in my flesh dwells no good thing.” And “in Him we live and move and have our being.” Consequently, looking to my own efforts to produce a firm faith will always be futile, for I am only capable of producing a flawed and weak product.
But when I look to Christ, I find in Him I have a faith that is strong because it is placed in an infinitely strong object. In Him I find a faith that endures because day by day He renews my strength. So often, after my frenzied efforts to work myself up into faith, I find that all I can do is collapse at His feet, spent and weary. It is at those moments that I hear Him say “Come unto me and I will give you rest.”
And He will give strength, and He will give faith. A firm, enduring faith.
In Christ – He is the source of my faith, He is the object of my faith. The beginning and the end. The alpha and omega. The yes and amen.
This is the foundation I want my life to rest upon.
This morning I am waiting for Gustav to make landfall. I live about 80 miles from New Orleans and we are expecting hurricane force winds here within the next few hours. Last night there was a tornado sighting alarmingly close to where I am.
I have been battling fear.
This morning the Lord comforted me with this verse: “The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything” Philippians 4:5b-6a
From my very earliest days as a Christian I understood the value of obedience to God. Over the years I have come to understand it to an even greater degree.
I have been guilty of playing that oh so familiar Christian game – I can’t hear you God, lalalalala. You know the one? That when you are asking God for guidance on a particular issue and He’s showing you what to do, but then you pretend that you’re not sure if it’s Him or not, so you go ahead and do what you wanted to in the first place. Of course, feeling very spiritual about the whole thing because you did ask God.
And how about the almost laughable number of times we have sung “I surrender all” or “Where He leads me I will follow” only to go about our lives as though we are perfectly entitled to make decisions based solely on our own desires, with no thought of asking God because surely He wants us to be happy, right?
I would never dream of telling God that my Yes had conditions. But my actions tell Him. Loudly. It is not the servant who says yes who is obedient, but the one who lives yes.
Several years ago I was at a retreat and in an intense moment in the worship service the worship leader said, “God wants you to sign on the dotted line.” That phrase impacted me so powerfully that I’ve not forgotten it. No conditions, no limitations. Just obedience. What a radical idea. I’m thinking that’s probably what the Lord has intended from His people all along.
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:20
CONCLUSION: It is time to find the joy of unconditional obedience
He is my Delight 