It's been a full week. Going into it I knew it was already a week with a full calendar. Then some family stuff came up, the car had an unexpected repair and the week was full, full, full. And by “full” I mean busy though I’m not overly fond of that word. I was just running from here to there with little time for other things that I want my life to be about: time to pause, reflect…think. I know that’s a challenge for anyone, but most of you who are reading this expect me to have something coherent and impactful to say on Sunday morning. And so, I need my mental faculties to be flowing. And I find that such seasons of busyness that invariably come up from time to time can lead to a genuine brain clog. I just can’t think about anything other than the things I have done and have yet to do. I am preoccupied with the fifteen things I have to do today and tomorrow. There’s no time to think.
There’s a clog and I need a brain plumber. There’s so much stuff in my head, I can't think about other things…important things. Essential things.
I recently led our small group in a study of Chip Ingram’s book, Good to Great in God’s Eyes. One chapter was titled “Think Great Thoughts” and among the great thoughts we could possible think about is the one we’ll look at together this Sunday in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11…Jesus is coming again. And as much as that is an amazing and encouraging thought, I was simply having trouble getting my head around it this week.
So I took some time to get quiet and allow a particular song to push that clog out. It is one we’ll be singing this Sunday morning in worship and again at our concert of prayer in the evening. It is a beautiful and amazing song based on Revelation 4 where the Apostle John wrote this account of his vision of heaven,
After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
Here's the song:
As I read this and hear the song, I begin to understand that there is no possibility of being distracted, clogged or whatever we would call it if we were actually in the presence of the Lord. There is no greater thought. No greater preoccupation for our lives. There is no one more awesome or more worthy of our attention. His name is Jesus Christ. But I’m not there yet. I’m here facing all the struggles, distractions and busyness of life on planet earth.
So I must grasp for moments when I get it. I can choose to shut off the TV, close down the Internet, shut myself in a room. I can take some discretionary things off of my calendar and think these great thoughts instead…
Jesus Christ is the creator of all things. In him all things consist and hold together. It is this Jesus who came in human flesh and dwelt among us. It is Jesus who showed us the way, who made the way, who is the way to an abundant life here and eternal life hereafter. It is Jesus who provided us the perfect example that we should follow him. It is Jesus who opened not his mouth in defense though he was falsely accused and brutally mistreated by those whom he loved and came to save. This Jesus submitted himself to a cruel death though he was perfect and sinless and more than powerful enough to stop it. He took on our guilt and shame and became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. This Jesus died and was buried. And he was gloriously resurrected to new life having conquered sin and death and thereby providing the means by which we can be reconciled to God. This Jesus is alive! He ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of the throne on high. And Jesus gave us the promised Holy Spirit as a guarantee of what is to come. The Spirit is our helper, our comforter, and the one who comes alongside us until the day Jesus comes again to take us with him and to be with him forever.
It is that thought that must consume me. With everything I know about Jesus, the thought that he is coming back is the greatest of all because everything else in redemptive history drives to this magnificent conclusion…“and so we will ever be with the LORD!” Oh let me think that thought throughout today! Let me think of nothing else. Let that thought alter everything about my day…my attitudes, my words, my actions.
Paul gave his readers in Thessalonica these words of encouragement and assurance as he spoke to them about the end of the age and the coming of the Lord, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 ESV.
We’ll take a run at hearing what God has for us as we gather as the church on Sunday morning. Have your Bibles and hearts open to receiving that, and be sure to get the clogs in your brain cleared so nothing gets in the way of us fully grasping that Jesus is coming again.
See you Sunday.
Todd
I must have listened to that very song 5-6 times Thursday morning on my drive into Barrie. Our living God is Holy and only He deserves to be called awesome. I use the word awesome for many things and now when I think of it I do indeed use that word loosely at times. The Rocky Mountains are awesome I'd say...or awesome snowfall, etc...but they do not in any way compare to the Awesome LORD God Almighty. Only such an awesome God could create such beauty.
Posted by: sandy Hudson | November 26, 2010 at 07:38 PM