“I have so many things I need to get done, Lord, Where do I start?”
That was my conversation with God today as I sat down with my Bible to study. My day had began very early as always, but the agenda wasn’t mine, and it certainly wasn’t God’s if it had taken me away from studying His word. It was almost as if I had misplaced my own priorities and I couldn’t find them to save my soul. It’s a good thing priorities aren’t apart of salvation. They are, however, apart of our relationship with God. I’ve never been good at keeping anything in balance for too long. I’ll do great for a short time period, and then things start building up, things I put off, things I was going to do when I got the time; and then suddenly I realize that I have a pile of things to do that didn’t get done, and some where in that stack is my relationship with God.
An Appointment with Jesus
1 Peter 2:7-9 KJV
Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Do we treat the Lord as if He is precious? I know I don’t. Peter’s words stung me this morning. In my frustration of the week I had spent bits of time with Him, as if to say, “Oh look Lord, I have a few minutes before my next meeting, want to catch up?” And then I wondered why everything got away from me. The irony of these verses is the fact that verse 9 is my life verse.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Verse 8 speaks of the Jews “appointment.” They stumbled at the word of God, not believing that Jesus was the Messiah because He had not come as they expected. Their God would surely not have been born of a lowly woman like Mary and have a carpenter as a father? Their God would have been regal and royal and come with all the pomp and circumstance! And yet He did, but they had missed it because the pomp and circumstance appeared to the humble shepherds and those who were not expecting God to make an appointment with them before He came.
Am I any different? While I know and believe that Jesus came as He did, that He died as He did on the cross of Calvary; that one drop of that “precious blood” covered the multitude of sin that is in my life. But I’m still asking God to wait until I have time for Him. “I have you penciled in tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. Lord, unless something comes up.” Right? Am I the only heathen?
An Appointment with the Heir
Hebrews 1:1-2 KJV
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, [2] Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
It struck me odd this morning to think that Jesus was made Heir following His own death. He is heir of all things, as He now sits at the right hand of His Father making intercession for an ungrateful lot like me. I struggled with some issues this week on a few different levels and I wanted so badly to whine, but I knew better. I had no right to whine. Jesus has every right and yet He’s there, every second of the day listening to me, watching over me and pulling my butt from the per verbal fire when I don’t deserve it. Not only is He the heir, but He made you and I a joint heir!
Romans 8:17 KJV
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Can you believe that? My suffering is nothing compared to His, but in His humbleness He allowed me to have what He has, eve now. He has eternal life, and so do I. He has a home in Glory and so do I, He has not lost one of the children that God gave Him, nor have I, so long as they are found in Christ Jesus. Glory to God in the highest who has mercy on someone like me and allows me to be an heir of Heaven.
An Appointment with God
Hebrews 9:27 KJV
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
That is one appointment that we will all make on time. There is nobody penciling in a possible time to die. When it’s your time, it’s done. And there you will stand before Almighty God and give answer to what you did with your time on earth. For all those appointments with God that were missed.
There was a man that I had been “wondering” about his soul. As if to justify it I told myself, he’s not really even someone I know very well. But in a small town, I knew of him. He had been placed in a nursing home in another county about 20 miles away. This week I had planned on going to see if he had a mind that could understand the salvation of God. But his appointment came before I got there. I get physically sick when I think about people going out into eternity that I never seen evidence of Christ in their life.
You and I have an appointment, we know not when. We have family and friends who have an appointment and we are not guaranteed another day of opportunity with them. This morning I needed this bell ringer to remind me that my appointments were scheduled for me when called saved me. There are people He placed in my path and it is my appointment to tell them about He who has called me out of the darkness and into His marvelous light. He is so precious… why do I not treat Him so.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: