Greetings in the name of “Power” (Mark 16:42)and in the name of Jesus Christ – THE Crucified and Risen Saviour! What a drab morning! I guess it is what you expect the last day of winter to be like as it tries to hide the coming of a new season. I trust that you have had a good week and are looking forward to a weekend of surprises. I have a sense that for someone this is going to be a ‘breakthrough’ weekend – that God is going to release ‘power’ in your life and that you are going to enter a new level of transformation. Today I will be praying for you, asking Father: to make himself known to us, to silence us with his peace, to comfort us with his tenderness, and to mend us with his love.
As I left yesterday’s blog with you there was an awareness that I had walked too lightly through the comfortable prison cell with its open door. I certainly don’t want to suggest that it is a simple thing to walk out of bondage…for it isn’t. I was reminded of the words: Long my imprisoned spirit lay-Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;-Thine eye diffused a quickening ray;-I woke; the dungeon flamed with light-My chains fell off, my heart was free,-I rose, went forth, and followed thee. Charles Wesley.
However, I do believe that there comes a moment…a divine moment…when the tension between my comfortable darkness and the hope-filled light of freedom must be broken. Charles Wesley has it right when he ends that verse with – “and followed thee.” We are not set free to walk into a new life alone but with a companion – the Friend who sticks close. I know that for some this ‘divine moment’ happens early in their Christian journey, while others need some time to process. I know, as well, that there is an adjustment period, again the words of the song: No condemnation now I dread;-Jesus, and all in him, is mine.-Alive in him, my living head,-And clothed in righteousness divine,-Bold I approach the eternal throne-And claim the crown, through Christ my own. Charles Wesley.
One of the reasons I don’t want to lose the hymns/songs/choruses of the past is the truth and teaching they carry. I was reflecting recently that there aren’t many references to the discipline of ‘following’ and ‘simply trusting’ and ‘trusting and obeying’ in the new music. Maturity and wholeness in our Christian life develop as we “follow Jesus.” I have come to understand that the Christian journey is one of continual miracles as we work out in our lives the many blessings of salvation that Christ gave when he opened my prison door and set me free!
Have a great weekend – be blessed!