Today is the Day

“Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.” Exodus 34:20

My soul, there is a lesson here for you. You are that unclean animal; you are deservedly the property of the Lord, who made you and keeps you, but you are so sinful that God will not, and cannot, accept you. So it comes down to this: the Lamb of God must stand in your place, or you must die forever. C.H. Spurgeon  Morning and Evening. 

MercyMe "Dear Younger Me"

If I knew then what I know now

Condemnation would've had no power

My joy my pain would've never been my worth

If I knew then what I know now

Would've not been hard to figure out

What I would've changed if I had heard

Dear younger me

It's not your fault

You were never meant to carry this beyond the cross

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15 NASB

Oh that today might be the day!  We all have a tiredness that's pretty much unexplainable.  A weariness that defies sleep at times.  What is it?  It's born of a sin problem.  A war we have been fighting since we began knowing good from evil. 

A Spiritual war that's as deep as our soul. 

We face so much each day.  It's interesting that the passage before in Thessalonians, Paul was talking about leading a quiet life. 

Pretty much minding your own business.  Living your life in such a way that people will ask you what you are doing that they aren't.  That's your opportunity to share your heart.  To share Christ. 

Soil cannot accept a seed unless it opens up to receive it.  Soil must be tenderized. Worked with. Made ready. 

But what of the other things that I shared at the beginning of this post?  One...everyone is in a position to kneel down before Christ. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Everyone is that donkey that must be redeemed. 

The song...think about the words.  Our enemy, Satan, would have you believe that all that's heaped upon you is for you to deal with alone. Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Christ said for all to come to Him who are weak and heavy burdened and He will give you rest. 

We need to leave our burdens at the cross. That same God who raised Jesus from the dead has more than enough power to handle your problems as well as run a Universe. 

That last part is more hope. 

There's a Plan. THE Plan.  The Father's Plan. 

Jesus is coming back.  He himself said that no man knows the day or the hour, but He did say we would see the signs.  

You watch the wind, you know that things will be moving.  You watch the clouds, you can know that some show signs of imminent rain...that soon things are going to get wet. 

He gave signs of His return.  Things we would see and understand.  Our world is run amok with heavily congested busyness.  People running here and there. Distractions are at every turn.  You need to know my dear reader that is intentional on the part of God's enemy. 

He's intentionally trying to keep chaos in this world to keep people from seeing what Jesus said to look for. 

To lead a quiet life means you have more time to pause and consider what God is talking to you about. 

To reduce the demands on your time will give you more time to be with your Master. 

To simplify your life means you can actually do more meaningful things,  not less.

There's an old saying. 'Too many irons in the fire.'.  In the old days of iron smith's, they stoked a fire pit by hand.  It had to be kept constant and consistent.  You worked on a piece at a time to get the best results. If you placed too many in the fire then you weakened the fire pit and your efforts would be substandard.  You couldn't get it hot enough to do the work you needed to do. 

Simply your life.  Let go of what you can and lay ahold of what Jesus is wanting of you.  One iron one fire. 

Sit quietly at Jesus's feet and breathe.  Know where you are and realize who you are with.  Life will be better for you than you think it can be now.