You discipline a man with punishment for sin, consuming like a moth what is precious to him. Every man is only a vapor.
Hear my prayer, Lord, and listen to my cry for help. Do not be silent at my tears. For I am a foreigner residing with You, a temporary resident like my fathers. (vs. 11-12)
"The land is not to be permanently sold because it is Mine, and you are only foreigners and temporary residents on My land." God. Leviticus 25
This world is not my home, I'm just a-travelin' through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. Used to sing this in church. Then it was a ditty with a catchy tune belted out by a six-year-old who sang the alto part with all her heart. Of course, I didn't know what it meant until I got old enough to be sick of this world and its stuff. Until I was stung by the harsh reality that not only are there evil people in the world doing evil things all the time, but that I had also been one of them. I have since discovered that my Father is much more concerned about what is going on inside of me than what is happening around me. He will strip away the earthly possessions and concerns that keep me from my holiness - my separation to Him alone - in order to redeem me to Him forever. My Father, Who owns everything, gives and takes away. But not arbitrarily. We need to see our sin....feel its weight...if we want to be free of it. We are spirit - vapor - not long for this earth in our bodies. God is so concerned about what lives forever, that He shapes our wills now to save us for then.
Show me my sin. A prayer we need to pray. A scary prayer sure to be answered by a God Who wants us to pursue holiness in this temporary land in which we are foreigners. God doesn't take any more pleasure in punishing us for our waywardness than I did punishing my kids. But we need boundaries. And there are natural consequences to behaviors. If I drive my car off a cliff and on the way down pray for it to stop, that is a presumptuous and stupid prayer. God will surely save all those who call on His name, but my earthly life will be smashed and somehow changed at the bottom of the abyss into which I have chosen to drive my car. If I live, I will be hospitalized. If not, the ramifications of my choice are immediately eternal. Gravity and caprice will have led to my demise, not the angry God of the universe unfairly punishing me for my choice. I want to know that I have a propensity for driving over cliffs before I decide to do so. Show me my sin.
I think about this in this way: I am standing before God with my skin pealed away and my skeleton vanished. Vapor and essence showing. And then there is the wand-like thing used by the TSA at the airport starting at the top of my head and moving slowing downward to my toes. Beep! Beep! What is that? Ooooo. Lust. Beep! Beep! That darn pride again! Beep! Beep! Judgement. Me, of all people, judging someone else! When my Father has scanned my spirit, showing me who I really am, He cleans me up. No beeping....at least for a few minutes! Light takes its place. Saved from what I have done and what I might do by a Holy God who cares enough to enlighten my life.
My son, do not take the Lord's discipline lightly or faint when you are reproved by Him, for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives. Hebrews 12
Hear my prayer, Lord, and listen to my cry for help. Do not be silent at my tears. For I am a foreigner residing with You, a temporary resident like my fathers. (vs. 11-12)
"The land is not to be permanently sold because it is Mine, and you are only foreigners and temporary residents on My land." God. Leviticus 25
This world is not my home, I'm just a-travelin' through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. Used to sing this in church. Then it was a ditty with a catchy tune belted out by a six-year-old who sang the alto part with all her heart. Of course, I didn't know what it meant until I got old enough to be sick of this world and its stuff. Until I was stung by the harsh reality that not only are there evil people in the world doing evil things all the time, but that I had also been one of them. I have since discovered that my Father is much more concerned about what is going on inside of me than what is happening around me. He will strip away the earthly possessions and concerns that keep me from my holiness - my separation to Him alone - in order to redeem me to Him forever. My Father, Who owns everything, gives and takes away. But not arbitrarily. We need to see our sin....feel its weight...if we want to be free of it. We are spirit - vapor - not long for this earth in our bodies. God is so concerned about what lives forever, that He shapes our wills now to save us for then.
Show me my sin. A prayer we need to pray. A scary prayer sure to be answered by a God Who wants us to pursue holiness in this temporary land in which we are foreigners. God doesn't take any more pleasure in punishing us for our waywardness than I did punishing my kids. But we need boundaries. And there are natural consequences to behaviors. If I drive my car off a cliff and on the way down pray for it to stop, that is a presumptuous and stupid prayer. God will surely save all those who call on His name, but my earthly life will be smashed and somehow changed at the bottom of the abyss into which I have chosen to drive my car. If I live, I will be hospitalized. If not, the ramifications of my choice are immediately eternal. Gravity and caprice will have led to my demise, not the angry God of the universe unfairly punishing me for my choice. I want to know that I have a propensity for driving over cliffs before I decide to do so. Show me my sin.
I think about this in this way: I am standing before God with my skin pealed away and my skeleton vanished. Vapor and essence showing. And then there is the wand-like thing used by the TSA at the airport starting at the top of my head and moving slowing downward to my toes. Beep! Beep! What is that? Ooooo. Lust. Beep! Beep! That darn pride again! Beep! Beep! Judgement. Me, of all people, judging someone else! When my Father has scanned my spirit, showing me who I really am, He cleans me up. No beeping....at least for a few minutes! Light takes its place. Saved from what I have done and what I might do by a Holy God who cares enough to enlighten my life.
My son, do not take the Lord's discipline lightly or faint when you are reproved by Him, for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives. Hebrews 12
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