My sweet meditations of my Savior are always heightened in the bringing in of the new year. 2014 was no different. This time my thoughts were on the 10 virgins. Is it midnight? Are we carrying our oil? Is Watchmeeting the oil?
I was still chewing the cud from last year's watchmeeting "Back to the Future". My children played the part of the sleeping babies on "Cabin" they were completely in character. They are much too old to still be playing that part in the reality, but I am never surprised at that. There is something about the comfort that your soul is cared for by the King of Kings that makes some children sleep. I am never quite that comfortable on Watchmeeting.
I am the watchful one. Shocked that no matter how we expect God to meet with us, He always meets us more. It is a tradition. They have done this since the beginning of time, it seems. The very same story that happened in "Cabin" seems to replay, year after year after year. Only, this time it was very different in that the spiritual battle was more corporate than personal. Cabin is about how the devil is negotiating soul by soul to carry the unsuspecting sinner to his eternal torment. How the angels of God intercede through the loving prayers of the "Petunias" of the world to deliver some to the grace of God, in spite of themselves.
I am not one of the ones who doesn't know that Jesus is coming. I do know that, but this service, though it was filled with many unfamiliar faces, we were one and the reality of the eternal nature of what we were doing seemed all the more significant.
Worship. That is what we were there for. Like in the upper room, there was a sweet oneness of spirit. God had provided some real talented and spiritually expressive leaders for us to be guided into the presence of the Lord. The warfare was tangible.Food, coming next and that is always a distraction from worship, as are the realities of the cares of this world. Succulent smells of delights to be tasted were pulling the mind from what we were doing. And yet that fed into the reality as well. Is not the anticipation of Heaven always the smell of what we are doing when we worship? Waffles and grits and eggs and sausage, not to mention sweet fellowship with delightful people were going to be enjoyed after we finish here. Can I remember what I am doing and still worship God, with such distractions?
Still, it is effort that carries the soul from caring about the things of this world to the reality of what we are doing. "No sleeping this year, guys, please?" I longed to sense that my children were as much in expectation of God to meet us in this wonderful tradition of spiritual warfare that our forbearers have bequeathed us as entering in. Oh do remember Lot's wife, mommy and don't let even the souls of the children in your care make you lose this "match". Getting your own soul to heaven.
Like a quarterback calling the play for the year, this minister and the group of ministers in the pulpit seemed to me. The God of the universe has special gifts of more of His presence to share with us and we must prepare ourselves. They bellowed the word of God, each in their different ways. God wants to use the reality of the unity of the Spirit that our forefathers have left to us to draw His Bride into communion with Himself. Woe to us if we despise what God has chosen to use in these last days to clean and provide for Himself a Church without spot or blemish. He will unify His Church with us or without us.
Make us one, O Lord. I caught the pass from the quarterback{the vision of expectation of God's unifying process in 2014} and I am sure that the Lord is doing His spiritual work on earth through the people of God, with all of our flaws and distractions and taking for granted the blessing of knowing Him. Halleluia, What a Savior, Make us One, and Maranatha.