About our flesh-and-bones life,
James 4:14 reminds us, “It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time,
and then vanisheth away.”
I
have an old kitchen plaque saved from my childhood home that reads, Only one
life, Twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last. ‘To me to live
is Christ.’
Paul, the only Bible writer to
receive revelation from the resurrected Jesus Christ, encourages Believers in
limitless ways to comprehend our citizenship is in heaven and that our role while still on earth is as “ambassadors for Christ.”
“Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth,” advises Paul in Colossians 3. “For ye are
dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
*****
Under
the title “Care of the Vineyard,” a favorite Bible commentary writer of mine, Cora
Harris MacIlravey (circa 1916), reminds us, “Time is rapidly fading away, the
things of the earth and of the natural are sinking out of sight and becoming as
shadows. There is a glory falling upon our union with our Lord, which is
shining more brightly as the days go by. It seems that there are only a few
more mileposts to pass, only a little more time in which to perfect our
relation to Him and our separation from all else, and then shall we rise to
meet Him in the clouds; and thus be forever with the Lord . . ."
Looking
at verse 2:16 from Song of Solomon (“My beloved is
mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies”), she writes, “He has
warned (the Shulamite woman) that she must put away those things that seem so small to her, but
which will eat the vines in her vineyard and destroy all promise of fruit. The
word ‘spoil’ has the meaning of ‘strangle.’ While this thought is not
applicable to the damage the foxes do in a grape vineyard; it is a vivid
expression of the way in which the little sins and neglect strangle the vines
in our lives, preventing the power of the life of Jesus Christ from flowing to
the highest branch and to the tiniest twig; preventing His life from being
manifested to the glory of God; preventing the fruit from maturing.
“Although
the bride has not seen the Bridegroom, He has spoken to her in love and
assurance, in gentle warning and encouragement. She is assured of her union
with Him, which is eternal and indissoluble. Her heart is filled with rest
because He is hers; she is apprehending that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate her
from the One who died for her, and from His love.
“In
deep settled peace, she rests in the assurance that, though she is unworthy and
many times unfaithful, He abideth faithful for He cannot deny Himself. As she
recalls all He has done for her, she comforts and strengthens herself in Him
and His undying love. She rejoices that, whether together or separated, whether
seen or unseen, her Beloved is hers and she is His. Literally: ‘My Beloved is
for me and I am for Him.’
“There
is nothing so precious as to apprehend that our Beloved is ours and we are His.
There is such joy and sense of holy possession in the thought that our Beloved
is ours. . . He is ours that we may let Him fill our lives and hearts, that we
may draw upon His strength at every step. His beauty and attributes are for us
that we may put them on. . .
“The
bride rejoices not only that her Beloved is hers, but that she is His. She is
His because He created her, because He has redeemed her, because He has loved
her with an everlasting love. She is His love slave, by free and joyful choice.
She is His to protect and defend. No harm can befall her, no evil can come nigh
her when His banner, ‘Love,’ is over her, and marks her out as His own possession. She is His that He may fight her
battles; she is His to correct and chasten, to mold and shape; she is His that
He may perfect that which concerneth her and make her more than conqueror. She
is His to feed and nourish; and He alone can bring her home to Glory, and seat
her upon His throne as His spotless spouse. She is for Him alone.
“Let
us lay our wills down at His feet, that His will may more closely encompass us.
Let us yield that He may purify and fashion us into His own glorious image.
Only as we abandon ourselves to Him without reserve, can we enter into this
relationship. . . Every power and every faculty—all, all must be His and for
Him alone; for Him to use as He pleases.”
No comments:
Post a Comment