Issue 233
It can be very discouraging to keep trying and then to find yourself thwarted at every turn. With the best will in the world you try patience, courtesy, threats and warnings, repeated messages and a variety of communication styles. You bail people out, you help them learn or you give them more chances yet they still don’t respond. Still you find it hard actually to get the job done. I don’t know how long you’re prepared to wait for a satisfactory response or for a team to work or an individual to learn. This will vary according to your character. I suspect that if people keep acting foolishly or blatantly defying your wishes, and sometimes even rejecting them out of hand, your patience would wear pretty thin fairly quickly. Eventually you would step in and sort things out.
Unlikely, then, that you would wait for many years and in God’s case, several thousands of years. He had tried messengers, managers, trainers and CEO’s, making use of drama, poetry, music, words, actions, rebukes and invitations. Finally the Father turns to the Son and they agree that now is the time to step in. Finally here is the right person, with the authority, the ability and the desire to get the job done. A body is prepared finally to answer the question “who will save these people from themselves and the consequences of their actions?” The new agreement is about to be implemented…
The right person has been found – his name is Jesus, the actions have been agreed and the life is now lived to fulfil the purpose agreed in advance. This brings you right back to the cross. For it is here at the cross that the job finally gets completed. Here is the right person, with the right name, bringing the authority, the ability and the will to implement the agreement and see it through to the bittersweet end. With one explosive shout of “finished” the job is actually done.
But with this finish comes your start. For the Father is now looking for people to get the next job done. It may come as a surprise to you but you are now the person with the authority, the ability and the will to bring the Son to work. You wouldn’t even have read this far if you didn’t want to work properly and spiritually. You are the one with authority. God has your name and he wants you to be such a follower of his Son that your daily routine involves taking up a cross and getting things done. The ‘getting things done’ will include the whole range of your tasks and beyond. It will encompass your words, thoughts and actions. You may need to remember this next time you start a working day. God has found you. You are the right person for this job and you can hear his voice through the fog. You may find this all a bit daunting. You may feel a little powerless to rise to all these challenges when they infiltrate your most repetitive and simple tasks to your most complex thoughts. You may feel you need a little help. Can you hear the wind blowing?
Hebrews 1:1-3
1In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Romans 12:1
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
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Geoff Shattock
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