Smeagol is Free!
A hermitudinal view of...stuff...


7.16.2004  

Long Lost Leeman

Leeman and I were sitting in his office on Wednesday...just talking...like so many times before.  He asked how I was doing, and I told him that this summer's been rough in some ways, good in others.  Rough because I'd noticed in the past few weeks that a lot of the things I'd been doing were being done just for the sake of doing them.  That doesn't necessarily sound so bad, until I reflected on the very reason I'm here.  Ultimately, I'm here to enjoy God...to seek Him...to obey Him and delight in Him.  I told him I didn't think I was really doing that.  At least, I'd forgotten that in doing the "little things" of life.  There have been a lot of distractions, things to take my focus away from the real reason I'm here...the reason for my life.  I thought of the upcoming school year as well, and told Jonathan that somewhere during the summer, my wanting the school year to hurry up and get here wasn't so much because I was looking forward to that new season, but rather, I was looking for a distraction from the pain and frustration of the current one.  Not good.  If I'm not enjoying God here and now, what makes me think I'll enjoy him any more one month from now, when there'll be over a hundred new students at Boyce, in addition to all the returning ones?  In essence, my life has to look the same, no matter the circumstance.  My motives...my delights...my hopes...my convictions...they should all be the same, whether or not other people are watching, whether or not I think other people are being affected (they always are).

 

That was to be my last meeting with Jonathan for a really long time.  He's leaving today...if things are still going as planned, he's driving up to Wisconsin to visit a friend, then down to Dallas to see his parents.  After that, he'll swing through here once more to pack up some stuff, then he'll be on his way to D.C. to do some editing on Dever's latest book.  Will he be back?  He doesn't know yet...I certainly don't.  It's crazy...people come and go, and only when they're on the verge of leaving do you try to find the words to say, only to find words don't work the way you wish they did.  Silly humans :)

 

My adventure through the book of Hebrews continues.  I was reading earlier this week and once more this morning through the last portion of chapter 12.  Check it out:

25  See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. 26  And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN." 27  This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28  Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29  for our God is a consuming fire. 
When you look up the source for the Old Testament quotation in verse 26, you're taken to Haggai 2.  The passage is amazing, simply because you see how the fulfilment of what God is saying is far, far beyond what the Israelites would or could have imagined. 

1   On the twenty-first of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet saying, 2   "Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people saying, 3   'Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison? 4   'But now take courage, Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD, 'take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,' declares the LORD, 'and work; for I am with you,' declares the LORD of hosts. 5   'As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!' 6   "For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. 7   'I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD of hosts. 8   'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the LORD of hosts. 9   'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts, 'and in this place I will give peace,' declares the LORD of hosts."


When God speaks of the "latter glory of this house," He speaks of the glory that Christ brings, which Hebrews 12 reveals.  The entire epistle does that, really...it explicitly shows how what was said in the days of the Fathers and the Prophets are brought to fruition and fulfilment in Christ.  In Haggai 2, God is reminding the Israelites of the glory of the original temple.  Now, in Hebrews, we are shown how there is a much better hope than we or the Israelites would have ever hoped for, and still more, how God intended that from all eternity. 

 

*Sigh*...we receive a Kingdom which "cannot be shaken."  So often, life is full of shakiness.  It seems so very unstable, and I spend so much time trying to stop the shaking.  I think it's imperative that I remember that the shaking will continue, no matter what I do.  Still more, that shaking is God's discipline...and He disciplines those He loves.  *Sigh*...it's hard to remember that, you know?  When I look at all the turmoil, I've got to remember the stability of His Kingdom...the Kingdom He makes mine :)  




posted by Bolo | 1:41 PM
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