“Short time or long – I pray to God not only you but all who are listening become like I am, except for these chains.”

 

Monday, September 11, 2023

Psalms 28; 29

1 Kings 7:51-8:21

Acts 26:19-32

Observance: Deiniol, bishop (d. 384)

“Short time or long – I pray to God not only you but all who are listening become like I am, except for these chains.”

The great many blessings of being under the protection of the blood of the Lamb fill our hearts with joy and peace. To have the Almighty Creator of the universe, the One who sits above the flood, filling the temple of our being with the cloud of His presence is what it truly means to be human. Every day is filled with adventure; every night turns to the rest of the victor.

Certainly there are chains: sometimes they are physical chains, the suffering of being a Christian among people who do not love the Lord. Sometimes they are spiritual; the attacks of the powers of the air who try to distract us from the One we love. But they always fall away. Our Rock of Ages always frees us; always brings us out of the pit of despair.

A wonderful thing about God’s commands are that they never really go against what we would most like to do anyway. Following the Lord is never really a burden; the burden comes from not being able to follow His words as well as we would like. Jesus’ Great Commission – His final words that commission all Christians to go out into the world and baptise the nations – seem like something we would be doing anyway. For Jesus to tell us explicitly to do it becomes more like a confirmation of what we subconsciously knew to be the thing we ought to do already. Because the love and joy and peace that we have been given by God only works when it is shared around. (This is one of the many reasons we get up early on a Sunday morning and go to church every week.)

Paul recognises that the gift he has been given from God can only be received by others from God, too. He doesn’t ask Agrippa to turn to God because of Paul’s brilliant eloquence, or ineffable charisma. Paul prays to God. God will work the miracle of faith in our neighbours, just as He worked that miracle in us. And since our heavenly Father is happy to give us good things when we ask for it, He will answer these prayers of ours, those prayers to bring more people into the family of God.