Passion week has begun and me without a battery charger!!! Oh my prepare to read a post with thoughts scattered all over the place. I chose the title of burning and I wish you could just crawl inside my head to connect the thoughts that are zipping around inside of me.
Lets start with the scripture I had read about Jesus’ passion for His Father. If you don’t know much about the things that happened that week, here is a quick summary.
Monday is the day in Jesus’ last week before He would be crucified and complete His ministry on earth. On this day He went to the temple to worship, probably to teach too, and found the lines of people trying to make a buck during the busy festival of Passover. We know the story of His turning over the tables, and creating quite a scene all because the place had been built and set aside as a place of worship unto the the one true God.
Oh yeah, about the battery. I took a breath and launched into this subject that is looming large. Which is another way of saying that I’m going to have to do a lot of editing to cut this down to a manageable portion. AS I began typing, I looked down to see the battery icon on the computer almost completely drained. This means I am not going to have time to write and ponder and rewrite and edit. Somehow this seems entirely fitting. Flames are not thoughtful and planned. They are quick and consuming.
Back to the theme. It is a clear night tonight. So I could see from quite a distance someone had a large bonfire going. I don’t know if it was just to get out and enjoy the starry night, or why they were burning something but I really connected with that image (didn’t take a picture ‘cuz I was driving) and said right out loud to the Lord, “I am burning for You”.
Over the past several weeks I have been reflecting on the reason behind the Lenten season. To repent. And I’ve done plenty of that as the Lord shows me the pride and selfishness that remain in me. To grow in my faith. I have struggled through the daily challenge to share a spiritual thought or lesson that I’ve seen or heard or learned and this process has definitely helped to to dig deeper and grow. And finally to prepare. I wasn’t really connecting with this as a process through more than 6 weeks. I mean how long does it take? You thank the Lord for His sacrifice, recognize that your life wouldn’t be possible without Him, and find something springy to wear and Easter, here we come; right?
Luke 19, Mark 11, and Matthew 21 all share something of this scene Jesus made in the temple. It was clear that the misuse of a place of worship was not OK with Jesus. That people going through the motions of buying their animals to be sacrificed right there, etc. etc. really bent the concept of worship so far out of shape it wasn’t recognizable any more.
That is what I saw in the fire that burned tonight. The fire of Christ for His Dad. The fire of Christ for the Church. Not the building so much as the people that were all being manipulated and swayed into something that wasn’t authentic worship at all anymore.
Tonight it finally clicked after almost 6 weeks that I am burning for a stronger connection to the Holy Spirit that indwells me. Burning to hear the Lord speak more often instead of forcing Him to do all of the listening in our relationship. Burning to reach lost people with the good news of His gospel message. Finally it clicked with me that spending a little less time on entertainment and a little more time with the Lord is preparing me to properly celebrate Jesus. Not just on Easter day, but to be consumed with this holy fire to love, honor, obey, and serve Him.
My time is almost up and I pray right now that something will stoke the flame inside of you. That your hunger for more of God begins to burn, and that you, like me, get far more than you imagined you would.
