| Purity
2003 is going to be a good year... more than
that, it's going to be a God year!
One of the things that God has really placed
on my heart for this next year is the theme of Purity, one of those
old, forgotten, unused kind of grandparent words to a lot of us
I think... but I really feel as if God is going to be working it
big time into my life this year.
In fact I was emailing one of my friends earlier
sayign that this year I'm going for my PHD - Purity, Holiness and
Discipline - and I think that is going to be a key area that my
attention is going to be focussed on in my own life and in the lives
of those around me as I strive to be Faithful In Serving Him (FISH!)
I was busy preparing a music tape for my trip
to Namibia and I came across two songs by a band called Skillet
and some of the hardest hitting lyrics that every time I hear them
make me think... I won't write out the full songs but these lines
come from the songs "I can" and "My Beautiful Robe"
off the 'Skillet' titled album (1996)
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"I am feeling under-rooted, feeling undermined
Can this grace of God cover me this time?
When I feel the pain I know why I feel strange
When I hear the rooster crow, I am ashamed
Jesus on the cross and this cross upon my back
I have learned to submit then I whine about my lack
Sometimes I drop my cross, deserve a little rest
That's when I come to You and I nail your feet and your wrist
Do You really love my soul, even after I hated
You?
Do You really know my name, can I really come to You?
Are You really more faithful than the changing of the seasons and
the morning sun?
Do You really know my name, can I really come to You?
I can I can I can I can
I don't care if the rooster crows, if the rooster crows, if the
rooster crows I can"
"I was crucified with Christ but how come
I'm not dead?
God gave me a cross but I made my own instead
I cut down a tree
I nailed myself to the wood
I screamed in agony
Cos the glory wasn't so good
I fell to my knees and I remember
The words of God pierced so hard,
"Your righteousness is like filthy rags"
And I fell to my knees
And said, "God, my filthy robe"
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I used a large portion of both songs just to
create some kind of context and I hope the meaning comes through
what I've written (cos it's not the full song in either case) but
the two lines that particularly hit me are:
"Jesus on the cross and this cross upon
my back I have learned to submit then I whine about my lack
Sometimes I drop my cross, deserve a little rest
That's when I come to You and I nail your feet and your wrist"
"I was crucified with Christ but how come
I'm not dead?
God gave me a cross but I made my own instead"
I've been reading this book called 'Mind over
Media' by Focus on the Family and it really calls you to focus on
the things that you take in, specifically in terms of movies, music,
books, computer games,
magazines, internet and television.
And those are the areas that I am specifically
focussing on this coming year and I really encourage and challenge
you to at least give it a thought. Because that is really where
the devil is having a field day in the world and TOO OFTEN in the
lives of Christians...
Purity is NOT outdated. It is a command from
God and is something we as Christians need to seriously consider:
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever
is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy
- think about such things." [Philippians 4:8]
If you call yourself a Christian then as Skillet
says in so many areas of your life "How come aren't you dead?"
Is it maybe because you choose to wear your own choice of cross
rather than the one Jesus has called you to?
VERY harsh question... but it NEEDS to be asked?
Have you died to the kind of tv you watch?
Have you died to the kind of music you listen to?
Have you died to the books and magazines you read?
Have you died to the types of computer games you play?
Have you died to the sites you visit on the internet?
If not, then you may struggle to say with complete
conviction that Jesus is Lord of your life... and that means that
you just might have some work to do... I know I have.
Well don't let me keep you from it... but also
don't just turn this off, delete or file it and go back to the old
way of doing things... you want 2003 to be different? You have to
be different. God is the one who doesn't change.
Guys, lukewarm is out this year... join me in
making a stand for your own PHD - Purity, Holiness and Discipline...
you won't get a piece of paper at the end of the year or a new title,
but maybe you'll at least start to deserve the one you have...
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