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.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Day 16 ~ Love (1 John 4:16)


A simple truth; God is love. Christ loves us because He chooses to love us. He chose to love us before the foundations of the world. I once heard a preacher say that Christ is infatuated with us, that he pines for us. I don't know, it makes me feel more like a puppy than a child. Chosen love is deeper than a hormone-driven or a cuteness inspired love. God's love is a committed love. It is based upon the nature of His person. It will not fade or dwindle with time or familiarity. It is eternally chosen, just as the Being who loves us is eternal. He loves us because that is who He is.
He has commanded us to love one another. If we are commanded to love, then we have to admit that it is possible for us to do so as a deliberate act. Love, at its foundation, must be an act of will. That is why I believe in love at first sight. A person can lay their eyes upon another and decide that they will love them, regardless of what the initial attraction may be. Love can deepen and develop through time and experience, but inherently people have the power within them to decide who or what they will love. It is our agency. Following Christ means we are to "choose to love."
God is very serious about this command. The bible lists this as a great sin of the latter days as love for one another waxes cold (D&C 45:27). One of the great sins of Sodom and Gomorrah was a lack of love toward the poor and needy. Perhaps the most striking example of God's seriousness about this command is in Moses 7. Enoch has beheld the God of creation weeping over the inhabitants of the earth. Astounded at this Enoch asks "How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?" (v29) The Lord answers "Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency; And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood;" (Moses 7:32-33) The answer is thought provoking - and unfortunately incriminating. Man was free to choose and he had decided not to love his brethren or his God. And God sent the flood.

                             THE COLD WITHIN -- James Patrick Kinney

Six humans trapped in happenstance                          The rich man just sat back and thought
In dark and bitter cold,                                               Of the wealth he had in store,
Each one possessed a stick of wood,                          And how to keep what he had earned,
Or so the story's told.                                                 From the lazy, shiftless poor.

Their dying fire in need of logs                                   The black man's face bespoke revenge
The first woman held hers back,                                 As the fire passed from sight,
For of the faces around the fire,                                 For all he saw in his stick of wood
She noticed one was black.                                        Was a chance to spite the white.

The next man looking across the way                         The last man of this forlorn group
Saw not one of his church,                                          Did naught except for gain,
And couldn't bring himself to give                              Giving only to those who gave,
The fire his stick of birch.                                           Was how he played the game.

The third one sat in tattered clothes                           The logs held tight in death's still hands
He gave his coat a hitch,                                             Was proof of human sin,
Why should his log be put to use                                 They didn't die from the cold without,
To warm the idle rich?                                                 They died from the cold within.
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