This Old Thing...
Like a sentencing from the judge, the pain inside when the inevitable truth is revealed has me torn. The benefit here is that the Judge grants me a life of eternal freedom from all woes and allowed to live in His glory for eternity. No more sorrow, no more pain. That's it, it is finished, as His son that he gave to the courts in payment of all the wrongs I have been accused of. I stand, in rags of clothes draped off my pathetic body, I am sick and weary, and yet, I am being treated like a King. I have been redeemed in this court room where I am definitely guilty.
One thing is asked and it is that I give to the judge, my shoes. An easy thing to give for all eternity in my future. Take everything, these rags, I will stand here naked, unashamed for I know that I am now redeemed, given a gift I could not repay. Oh glorious judge how much you must love me, not in charitable compassion, but as one of your own. He watches knowing what I will do, however waiting for me to take the shoes off, a possession I said I was willing to give at one time, now I hesitate.
Why? Why would I not just take the shoes off and gladly give to this Judge all that I have? What is holding me up from giving up the one thing that holds me back?
I see through the glass outside of the courtroom it is snowing. I justify and plead with the Almighty that I need these shoes, they will be used for His benefit. I tell this all-knowing and unwavering judge that I promise to use these shoes for His good and tell everyone about Him, it will be my platform and a display of His glory. However, the Judge says nothing. He sits, watching me. His eyes they are so kind and so loving, he just wants me to give up the shoes. He has promised more riches than I could ever fathom in my current state, and yet here I am unwilling to give up the shoes that He gave to me earlier in the week anyway.
"Oh certainly." I said back to him with all the confidence new shoes provide. I had no qualms about it because I was given what I wanted for my bare feet.
Now, he has pardoned me, and promised me all of His things in His own home, a reprieve not just to go back out into the world and wander, but to go back out and tell the world of what He has done so that they too can attend their own court date.
"It will be brief and it will be temporary, but when you come back here, all of My personal possessions, will be yours." The Judge says.
Excitement radiates throughout my body when I think of the future. I am excited and willing to tell everyone about all that He has promised me. I am so very elated. Then I look down to the shoes, those now blasted items that I know I will give up, need to give up, yet the longer I wait and justify if this is really necessary, the more I know how wrong I am.
The judge waits patiently. He has no more arguments on His behalf, the truth is unwavering.
I am torn because I received some compliments on the shoes and envied by other people. I took these shoes and made them mine. I told the world they were my shoes, and now what will I say when I leave here without them? Will those people understand, or just make fun of me? Even that painful thought falls greatly short to the truth that lies in this Judges words. This truth is, these shoes are nothing greater than the one who gave them, and now he wants them back. The truth, the only truth, is that nothing on my body, in my body, my body included is no longer mine. Though I still walk through this world and understand the thoughts and minds of those outside, no longer is that my natural thinking. A new nature consumes me and it is in this court room where the Judge, tells me the truth.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me- and I in him-bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing." - John 15:5
Give up the world, the things that hold you down, back, drown you. Get out of your own mind and see the world through God's eyes. He had given us the word in the Bible and once that starts to seep into the mind, no longer does this world's physical matter or appearance or once highly coveted items in life dominate yours, but He will. I pray for the Holy Spirit to awaken in each person, prayers to passersby that I see on the street, cars next to me. Maybe that person hasn't had anyone pray for them. I am asking God for your strength and endurance as you face the inevitable trials. God has given you everything, forgiven you, He asks that you give back what is already His. Submit to Him, the Father.
I am so wretched. I am asked to give up what I have justified so long. This isn't about me, but the one who I work for now. If the tools and gifts given become a burden interfering with my work, then I have to give them up. My physical body, nutrition, obsession over self, no longer am I called to worry of such things. The world seeks appraisal for their "dedication" and "sacrifice" but in the end, the world, these bodies, they die, and then what?
Live for the eternal, not for today or tomorrow. God allows each blade of grass to grow and therefore He allows for your mind to obsess over things that were once a gift, that became an idol. A body, family, weight loss, a job promotion, for those that claim to follow, the willingness to give it up will produce a conviction, which we are to rejoice for it produces endurance.
Jesus said to his Apostles in John 15 verses 12 and 13, "My commandment is this-to love one another just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this-that one lays down his life for his friends."
If anything interferes with these commands, it is to be taken out. Unless you suffer from a hardened heart, a self-righteous god who opposes any ideas not of your own. You must give up and be willing to bear your cross, for the one who gave us the pardon, who loved us and knew us before the formation of the earth.
Sounds like a pretty convincing argument to me. Heck, I did this well and I didn't even have a lawyer.
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or morning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away." - Revelations 21:4
One thing is asked and it is that I give to the judge, my shoes. An easy thing to give for all eternity in my future. Take everything, these rags, I will stand here naked, unashamed for I know that I am now redeemed, given a gift I could not repay. Oh glorious judge how much you must love me, not in charitable compassion, but as one of your own. He watches knowing what I will do, however waiting for me to take the shoes off, a possession I said I was willing to give at one time, now I hesitate.
Why? Why would I not just take the shoes off and gladly give to this Judge all that I have? What is holding me up from giving up the one thing that holds me back?
I see through the glass outside of the courtroom it is snowing. I justify and plead with the Almighty that I need these shoes, they will be used for His benefit. I tell this all-knowing and unwavering judge that I promise to use these shoes for His good and tell everyone about Him, it will be my platform and a display of His glory. However, the Judge says nothing. He sits, watching me. His eyes they are so kind and so loving, he just wants me to give up the shoes. He has promised more riches than I could ever fathom in my current state, and yet here I am unwilling to give up the shoes that He gave to me earlier in the week anyway.
"If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you." - John 15: 18-19.Yes, these shoes are not even mine, but what he gave to me and allowed me to have as my own. "However," he said, "You have to give them back when I ask."
"Oh certainly." I said back to him with all the confidence new shoes provide. I had no qualms about it because I was given what I wanted for my bare feet.
Now, he has pardoned me, and promised me all of His things in His own home, a reprieve not just to go back out into the world and wander, but to go back out and tell the world of what He has done so that they too can attend their own court date.
"It will be brief and it will be temporary, but when you come back here, all of My personal possessions, will be yours." The Judge says.
Excitement radiates throughout my body when I think of the future. I am excited and willing to tell everyone about all that He has promised me. I am so very elated. Then I look down to the shoes, those now blasted items that I know I will give up, need to give up, yet the longer I wait and justify if this is really necessary, the more I know how wrong I am.
The judge waits patiently. He has no more arguments on His behalf, the truth is unwavering.
I am torn because I received some compliments on the shoes and envied by other people. I took these shoes and made them mine. I told the world they were my shoes, and now what will I say when I leave here without them? Will those people understand, or just make fun of me? Even that painful thought falls greatly short to the truth that lies in this Judges words. This truth is, these shoes are nothing greater than the one who gave them, and now he wants them back. The truth, the only truth, is that nothing on my body, in my body, my body included is no longer mine. Though I still walk through this world and understand the thoughts and minds of those outside, no longer is that my natural thinking. A new nature consumes me and it is in this court room where the Judge, tells me the truth.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me- and I in him-bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing." - John 15:5
Give up the world, the things that hold you down, back, drown you. Get out of your own mind and see the world through God's eyes. He had given us the word in the Bible and once that starts to seep into the mind, no longer does this world's physical matter or appearance or once highly coveted items in life dominate yours, but He will. I pray for the Holy Spirit to awaken in each person, prayers to passersby that I see on the street, cars next to me. Maybe that person hasn't had anyone pray for them. I am asking God for your strength and endurance as you face the inevitable trials. God has given you everything, forgiven you, He asks that you give back what is already His. Submit to Him, the Father.
I am so wretched. I am asked to give up what I have justified so long. This isn't about me, but the one who I work for now. If the tools and gifts given become a burden interfering with my work, then I have to give them up. My physical body, nutrition, obsession over self, no longer am I called to worry of such things. The world seeks appraisal for their "dedication" and "sacrifice" but in the end, the world, these bodies, they die, and then what?
Live for the eternal, not for today or tomorrow. God allows each blade of grass to grow and therefore He allows for your mind to obsess over things that were once a gift, that became an idol. A body, family, weight loss, a job promotion, for those that claim to follow, the willingness to give it up will produce a conviction, which we are to rejoice for it produces endurance.
"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."- Romans 5:3-5He is the answer and if you have to justify to God what He has laid on your hearts to give up, I would look into that. Look what is offered in return, no more sorrow, no more pain, gifts greater than we could ever imagine in our state. This a call to our faith in Him.
Jesus said to his Apostles in John 15 verses 12 and 13, "My commandment is this-to love one another just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this-that one lays down his life for his friends."
If anything interferes with these commands, it is to be taken out. Unless you suffer from a hardened heart, a self-righteous god who opposes any ideas not of your own. You must give up and be willing to bear your cross, for the one who gave us the pardon, who loved us and knew us before the formation of the earth.
Sounds like a pretty convincing argument to me. Heck, I did this well and I didn't even have a lawyer.
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or morning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away." - Revelations 21:4
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