As I sit here this morning with my Bible open, I glance out
at the blue sky and remember so many powerful times with God as I walked under
His great expanse. Our man-made houses are stuffy and full of man-made things.
They do not easily take us into the presence of God. Some of us try to overcome
this by visual reminders and music that talk of God and our relationship with
Him. But they are reminders, not the real thing!
Blue sky, outdoors, expanse, sun, moon, stars, amazing
nature on the micro and cosmic levels and everything in between… these lead us
into the presence of God, recognizing our Creator and worshiping Him.
King David grew up out in the fields watching and caring for
sheep. He knew God personally as day after day, night after night he was in awe
of all the creation he observed. He knew God personally as his protector,
defender, healer, and friend. Who else could he talk to when he was with the
sheep? All that he learned in that environment served him well most of his
life.
It was when he moved into the palace he created for himself
and gained many wives that he lost his footing with God and messed up big tim,e.
Even David, a “man after God’s own heart” began to mess up as he had more
power, more kingdom to rule, more success as a leader, and more praise from
people.
When we determine to satisfy all the desires of the flesh,
we make less and less room for God. Our eternal vision is dimmed and we focus
on the insignificant things like accumulating wealth, power and prestige. We
build bigger and bigger houses and spend more and more time and money
maintaining and filling them. And God becomes smaller and smaller until we
believe that we can define Him, instruct Him, and make Him meet our
expectations by rituals, chants, and demands. Or we even begin to ignore Him
and tell ourselves he doesn’t exist.
Jesus was told by Satan in the temptations that if He would
bow down to Satan and worship him, He could have all the wealth He desired
(turn the stone into bread), He could rule the whole world (power), and He
could draw attention to Himself by surviving a death-defying fall (prestige).
Jesus refused them all. (Luke 4:1-13) Instead, He had no place to lay His head
(He didn’t own a house). (Matthew 8:20; Luke 9:58) He chose to be a servant of all, (He
chose to not use power over others to lead them) washing His disciple’s feet –
even the one who would betray Him. (John 13:3-11) And He chose to always
glorify God and not Himself. When the people tried to make Him King by force,
He slipped away through the crowd. (He wasn’t interested in prestige) (John
6:14-16)
If we were to focus on eternal things like our relationship
with God, His plans for us and others around us, His invitation extended through
Jesus to come and follow Him, and His command to GO – and make disciples of all
the nations (Matthew 28:19-20), I wonder if our need for the physical things of
this world like wealth, power, and prestige would diminish – if we would be
more content with where we are and who we are, and if our desire to control
others would be replaced by an invitation to come, taste and see that the Lord
is good. (Psalm 34:8)
Lord, You know my heart. You know everything about me. You
made me – in your image – to worship You, to follow You, and to live with You
forever. I invite you to be my guide through this life, to shape me, to empower
me, and to continue to draw me closer and closer to You.
