All in Jesus
Recently on a trip from the country into the city, I drove by a dense forest. It looked beautiful from a distance. But as I looked closely, I could see most of the trees were covered in thick vines that had climbed to the tree-tops, blocking the light from reaching them. This was not a healthy forest.
When I was young, I thought the Colorado mountains were so beautiful that as a child I asked my mom, “Are we in heaven?”
What if… we really could just drive into heaven?
What if… it could be that easy to get there?
Fast forward to the last week of Jesus’ life. There was always a hustle and bustle to Passover week. But this year the Teacher had drawn crowds when He made His triumphal entry into the city on Sunday. On one hand the people were hanging on His words. On the other the religious leaders were trying to entrap Him to ultimately have Him arrested and crucified as an enemy of Rome.
“Magnum opus”, meaning masterpiece or great work (Merriam Webster), is not a term that comes to my mind frequently. But when Erica Wiggenhorn called the transfiguration of Jesus a “magnum opus” moment in her study of Luke (Unexlainable Jesus, p.108) it caught my eye.
In the big picture it seems to me we are in the greatest interlude of all, from Eden to Eternity. God’s intent was not that we’d so quickly be tossed out of paradise to spend our days in disarray. But we chose to sin, so we are in limbo as have been God’s people from Adam down through Abraham to Moses to Daniel till Jesus. Ah, but this one will end in the perfect peace of eternity future.
It didn’t take long for Jesus’ ministry to take off following His forty days of temptation in the desert (4:1-13). Luke is peppered with brief snapshots of Him teaching, healing, connecting with the people: the news about (Jesus) spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of all their sicknesses (5:15).
I enjoy travel! I like the variety of places. And I have found it helps to be prepared. If I go to the mountains, I bring long pants and sweaters, preparing for colder temperatures. If I go to the ocean, I bring swimsuits, sundresses and shorts, preparing for hotter temperatures. I research a new place to learn what to bring and what to do while I am there.
Wow, Hebrews is intense! I am becoming more and more aware of that since I’ve been sauntering through its pages. I see that even God’s man Moses, at the base of Mount Sinai (12:21) said, “I am trembling with fear”.
What a lovely May day it was. As I gazed out my back window, mesmerized by the deep blues of the hydrangeas and the emerging pinks and reds of the roses, a couple of horn-rimmed eyeballs caught my attention. What in the world was an owl doing in my pecan?
How easily we can slip into outright sin and its entanglements. Tie on your godly truths securely; or like your dangling shoelaces, the ways of the world will trip you up. Sir Walter Scott's quote may possibly encompass all the devil desires from us: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." Deception could be the root of all evil. The serpent in the garden used that ploy, and look at the sin that entangled us all.
We spent the day in lawn chairs watching my brother, his grandsons, and a “windmill expert” assemble a 100-year-old windmill in our pasture. By the evening, the seemingly random pile of metal transformed into a functioning mechanism for pumping water from a hundred feet below the ground’s surface.
Then—Malachi’s words cut to the core of those who feared the LORD. Having come to their senses and repented of any personal falling away, they got together to talk it over. The Hebrew suggests this was not just one meeting, but occurred regularly and nurtured their faith. I cannot help but think they spent a lot of time speaking about the goodness of God in their lives—they honored His name!
My husband, Don, is a woodworker. He designed the box in this picture from discarded lumber—wood that was fit to be thrown away. The decayed, cracked wood was perfect for Don’s project. He broke the wood, poured resin to fill the cracks and holes, and then carefully constructed this beautiful box. The beauty of the resin is seen only because of the broken and cracked places in the wood.
However, death is not the end of Jesus’ story. If not for the resurrection of Jesus, our faith would be in vain. Paul stated this best, “…if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).
Through the centuries, many have rejected Jesus as King, but He is and always will be King.
I have learned why my soul blesses the Lord.
David understood this too and says…
Now, after seeing God’s movement in healing, I am inspired to live in a new way.
It is finally dawning on me that God’s love is beyond definition: “For I am God and not a man—the Holy One among you” (11:9).
Way back in Hosea 2:14-15 God hinted at His tenderness, at the renewal of Israel’s blessings and their hope, at the restoration of His intended relationship with them. “In that day” (2:16) He will be like the dew to Israel, refreshing its roots and its blossoms, its splendor and its fragrance. His covenant love will kick into gear; He can’t go back on His promises.
My friend told me the story about her early Christmas present. Her mother bought a new car for her and her husband. At first I was struck by the generosity of this mother, but the rest of the story intrigued me more.
A few years ago, we had a most unusual Christmas day lunch. It was the “in-law Christmas,” and so, our girls and their families were coming the day after Christmas. I had been busy preparing food for the week and just didn’t have the energy to prepare another meal for Christmas day. Therefore, we went to eat at one of the few restaurants open.
