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, February 22, 2010

Day 2 ~ Lord of Hosts (Psalms 24:10)


In the spring of 1519, Hernando Cortez landed with his army on the eastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula with a tiny fleet of 11 ships. He proceeded inland to the capital city of the Aztec Empire. The Aztec emperor, Montezuma, initially welcomed Cortez, whom many Aztecs thought was a god. Cortez took advantage and imprisoned Montezuma, and by 1521 the Aztecs were conquered. It remains as one of history's most impressive victories. But the hardships of the New World caused some of the Spaniard soldiers to grumble. "Let's return to Spain. Let's go back," they murmured. So Hernando Cortez did an extraordinary thing. He burned the ships. They had no way to return to the life that they knew before the mission. They could go on with Cortez or they could rebel against him. They could not return to neutrality. That course was no longer open to them. The ships were burned.

For years I had read the scriptures and seen one of Christ's names as the "Lord of Sabaoth." I assumed that it was simply a variant spelling on the word "Sabbath." Of course, I thought, Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, those wacky King James translators just couldn't keep their spellings straight. Boy, was I wrong! Sabaoth is a Hebrew word most often translated as "Hosts." Lord of Sabaoth means Lord of Hosts. Who knew? Somebody should tell me these things.

In the Bible, the Hebrew for "host" is Tsaba and used more than 486 times having something to do with warfare, armies or fighting. In general, "tsaba" can describe a multitude of men (army), angels (good & bad) or stars. Lord of Hosts is used more than fifty times in the Book of Mormon, a dozen references in the Doctrine and Covenants. Exodus 15:3 says The LORD (Jehovah) [is] a man of war: the LORD [is] his name. Sometimes we are uncomfortable with the Lord being associated with war. In some cases we have even downplayed our more militant hymns in favor of the more peaceful "love" ones. I suppose there is nothing wrong with that - as long as we remember that we are still in open warfare with a foe who gathered his forces and declared his hostile intent before the world began. A war which will not end until Jehovah, a man of war, the Lord of Hosts, descends with a shout, riding a white horse and puts all His enemies under His feet.

He is a most impressive Captain. He fights for His people. He has won every battle He has gone out to fight. His robes are already stained in the blood from the victories He has attained over sin and death. He will yet reign victorious over this earth and all the works of His hands. He inspires His people and His army in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds, though we often cannot see, and many times do not even recall, that those who are for us outnumber those who are against us. Great leaders inspire great deeds.

In 480 B.C., Xerxes, King of Persia invaded Greece with more than 250,000 men. He landed at Thermopylae. A Greek army of 1400 was all there was to meet the Persian invader. The Spartan king, Leonidas, seeing the helplessness of 1400 against 250,000 sent all but his 300 men to Athens to forewarn and prepare for the oncoming invader. For three days the Spartans held a pass in the mountains against every onslaught the Persians could throw against them. So confident were the Spartans in their leader and their cause that when they were informed that the arrows from the bows of the Persian army flew so numerously that they blotted out the sun, they responded "So much the better, we shall fight in the shade."

We are enlisted in the Lord's army. We can go on with the Lord of Hosts or we can turn against Him. Shall we not put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6) and be valiant and true in the face of the enemy even though his arrows blot out the sun? Yet, our Captain will prevail. He rallies us to Him. Neutrality is not an option. The ships are burned.
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