40 Days Closer to Christ

What if they decided to hold a concert and every member of the orchestra showed up with their instruments tuned anyway they wanted? I’ve been to a few middle school concerts and I have to tell you that it wouldn’t be good. There must be some standard to which all the instruments are tuned, or else you end up with a cacophony. But not only do the instruments need to be tuned, but they need to be tuned to a Master note.

In my house I have three guitars. (Actually since my kids played rock star with one of them only two are playable, but for illustration purposes lets suppose all three can be played.) If I tune one of them to with a pitch pipe or with an electronic tuner than I am pretty sure that it is conditioned for optimal performance. Now I can go to the second guitar and tune it by the first one. And I can get around to tuning the third one by using the second. Theoretically, all three should be tuned up just right. But if I strum a note on the third one, and check it with the tuner, more than likely it will be a little flat or a little sharp. It is just not quite in tune. No matter how good my ear is, a little variation sneaks in as they get tuned down the line. All three guitars have different tones and pitches but if they are all tuned with the electronic tuner and to the same standard then they sound good together.

It is the same way with us. We can get pretty close to where we should be in our spirituality, in our righteousness, and in our walk with God by sharpening ourselves against each other, but we will always be a little off. We need to go back to the Master to make sure that we are where we need to be. It is Christ alone who is the standard by which we measure ourselves. And it is by Him alone that we will be able to perform as we should. That is why we take forty days leading up to Easter and use it to draw closer to Christ and to reestablish our discipleship.

Forty days is the optimal period to form a new habit, to establish a new practice, and to change the pattern of your life. 40 Days – Closer to Christ is an activity (we won’t use the word program) that can change your life.

Forty is a significant number in the scriptures. When God brings about change, the scriptures often represent a significant event as having a forty day duration. Noah’s world was changed forever in forty days. Moses saw God face to face and in forty days received the word which is still the basis for law and government. The city of Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes and turned away God’s wrath in the space of forty days. David became a hero after all Israel cowered under Goliath’s forty day challenge. Elijah lived by faith for forty days after God sustained him with one meal. The disciples were given the mysteries of the kingdom as they were taught by the Lord during an intensive forty day seminar after the resurrection. Jesus prepared with a forty day fast for a ministry which culminated in the salvation of mankind.

We can grow closer to the Savior as we study His life and His appearances throughout scripture. We become the people we should as we strive to lead a life of diligent discipleship. In these forty days we can review and renew the vital things that bring us to the Lord. We can refresh our memories and recall the eternal truths of who God is, who we are, and how we can have a close relationship with Him. 40 Days – Closer to Christ is an opportunity to more fully develop that relationship, so that we may see as we are seen and know as we are known.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Day 12 ~ Holy One of Israel (Psalms 71:22)


National studies show that even though personal wealth and earnings are at an all time high, people are less happy than they were ten years ago. And they are significantly less happy than twenty years ago. How is it that with all the "stuff" we have, with all our modern comforts, we don't have greater satisfaction? Depression and despair are higher than they have ever been. People have less hope than they did during the Great Depression and World War II. The saddest part of the study is that people know something is missing, but they don't know where to find that missing piece. Responses were typical, they ranged from the practical like lose weight, get a better job, have financial security; to the improbable such as becoming a movie star or winning the lottery. So much of society is invested in fun, fashion, and home theaters. We're looking for the next big thing.

Filling up our lives with worldly pleasures will never fill our needs. Pleasures soon wear off and boredom comes quicker and quicker. No matter how good the meal we will get bored if we eat it every day. And it is only a matter of time before we are empty and seeking the next one. We are everlasting beings trying to satisfy an eternal itch with temporal objects. We are the infinite trying to find satisfaction in the finite. It cannot fill. It will not last. And we are back to where we started, but the last condition is worse than the first.

After living a life of debauchery, and finding himself empty and unsatisfied, Augustine turned to the Lord and found the satisfaction he had been searching. He wrote, "Our souls are restless until they find rest in God." He taught that we have a figurative hole in our being which only God can fill. Blaise Pascal once said, "There's a God shaped vacuum in every heart." How true he was. A God shaped vacuum is a better image. The God shaped vacuum must be filled with something. Like all vacuums it sucks things in. If God does not fill the space than other things will get sucked into it. Many people seek to fill their hearts with things which are temporary or even lesser than themselves. It becomes a dog chasing its own tail.

When Isaiah saw the throne of God, he saw seraphim standing and flying in God's presence. They "cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory" (Isa 6:3). The Lord of Hosts - Jehovah - is holy. When John saw heaven he saw four beasts around the throne of God and "they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come" (Rev 4:8). The "was, is and is to come" is the I Am - Jehovah - he is holy. Over and over again, He is called holy.

When something is Holy it means it is set apart. It is consecrated and dedicated to a sacred purpose. The scriptures tell us hundreds of times that God is holy. He is set apart for a special purpose, He is to be worshiped. Isaiah used the title Holy One of Israel more than 25 times in his writings. It is Isaiah's song of praise for the Lord. Holy, holy, holy cry those who surround His throne.

We are to be holy, too. We are set apart for a purpose as well. We are to be His people and to serve and worship Him. "And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD [am] holy, and have severed you from [other] people, that ye should be mine" (Leviticus 20:26). "For thou [art] an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself" (Deuteronomy 7:6).

We were created to worship. It should become our very nature to praise God; like breathing out and breathing in. We can only be fulfilled when we are filled with adoration for God.

Steven Curtis Chapman wrote:
   Every single beat of my heart, is another new place to start  
   This is a moment made for worshiping, because this is a moment I'm alive.
   And this is a moment I was made to sing, a song of living sacrifice.
   For every moment that I live and breathe this is a moment made for worshiping.
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