“You are
complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power”
(Colossians 2:10)
New York is my wife Genevieve’s
home and we were there for ten days, just a short time ago. We saw much
– a lot more than most “tourists” because she knew where we should go
(just like the Lord knows the future and has a plan for you). But
one thing I saw was something neither of us really expected – I saw the
child in my wife, as she shared the wonders of the place that is her
home on this earth.
For example, as we were hurrying
along a street in Manhattan, she suddenly stopped us and said, “Shhh,
listen…” I stopped with her, but didn’t hear anything unusual – just the
noise of the city. But then she started moving again, in a different
direction. She was following the soft music and it brought us to an ice
cream truck. She smiled and breathed those special words, “It’s Mr.
Softee.”
It was an ice cream memory from
her childhood. She was delighted and so was I, and the soft ice cream
was indeed very good. We would see her home in Brooklyn and encounter
many other memories, such as Radio City Music Hall, where at age eleven,
she attended a Rockette dance show and dreamed of becoming a “Rockette”.
When we were in New York, there was a poster at Radio City, promoting
the “Rockette Experience” where you could be a “Rockette for a Day”.
She was (and is) very interested
in living the “Rockette Experience”, and if you think about it, we all
have some kind of deep seated dream or passion that would be “fun” if it
could happen, for it would complete a dream or bring back happy
memories. A lot of human activity is spent in seeking “fun” – to feel
good, seeking the innocence and wonder available to the very young. It
is sad that the delight of the young is so easily dimmed; gradually for
some and suddenly for many.
But there’s another factor in
life that most will miss – what we lost may be found in Jesus Christ. He
said to the religious man who visited Him at night, “you
must be born again” (John 3:7), and He told His disciples that
they (and you) must “become like children”
(Matthew 18:3) if you expect to be right with God. The aging process is
a great, impassable barrier and it is true that we cannot “turn back the
clock”. But our Lord can do the impossible.
It’s not a popular idea to want
to be like a child. The key is to be childLIKE, not childISH, but most
do not see that distinction. A child does not know what to do, and needs
a leader, whereas most want to “grow up” and lead themselves. Jesus
Christ is the true Leader of all, and He’s in charge of beings we never
even heard about. We need Him, and must seriously consider that He “called
a child to Himself and set him before them” (the disciples) “and
said, “Unless you are converted and become like
children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then
humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven” (Matthew 18:2-4). To receive Jesus is to give up
pretending and to trust in Him.
We received an email entitled "Something
to make you smile", which included the following: "You
know the feeling when you're sitting on a chair and you lean back so
you're just on two legs and then you lean too far which makes you almost
fall over but at the last second you catch yourself? - I feel like that
many times." (Don’t we ALL, in one way or another?).
The human condition is not
entirely unlike that person on the chair, and it is also like Prime
Minister Winston Churchill, who did everything "right" while in high
office during World War II, and then promptly got voted out of office as
soon as it was over. You aren't going to feel "secure" for long in this
life, and the approval of people will not last. Our security must be in
the Lord. Our future is His. He is our need.
As our Scripture verse for today
so clearly indicates, you will never feel complete, never know peace, or
fulfillment, or any other lasting feeling of “I made it”, unless you
receive Him “who is the head of all principality
and power” (Colossians 2:10).
It’s all about HIM and if you
think YOU’VE “got it”, you don’t. If we think we’re “mature” or “humble”
or whatever, we aren’t. And we certainly don’t know it all by any means.
The great preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon, had a wonderful comment that
was aimed at ministers, but it has application to all of us who might at
some point think we are “something” – “Some
ministers” he said, “would make good
martyrs; they are so dry, they would burn well.”
Like the child who hears the
“Mr. Softee” music, and runs to the ice cream truck to pay their money,
so we must hear the Holy Spirit of God and RUN to our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. He has food for your soul and the price is right because
He paid it all. You will be “COMPLETE IN HIM, who is the head of” –
everything!
He is your leader and you need
Him as Savior and Lord. You can take the risk and become that child
again, laying aside the facade that you are somehow sufficient in
yourself. Just like the sign that said “be a Rockette for a day”, go
ahead and read the Sign that points you to the Lord. His Word says “you
must be born again” (John 3:7) - forever. Down deep inside, you know you
have a need, though you can never by yourself figure out how to “scratch
the itch” that is deep in your soul.
He can and will reach that place
of loneliness deep within. His Name is Jesus Christ and He is calling to
you right now.
Lord, I receive you. I confess
my need of You. I trust in You now, and acknowledge that I do not know
the future; don’t even really know what is wrong. I just need – You!.
Help me, Lord Jesus. Come into my heart and life and fill me with Your
Spirit. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Friday Study Ministries
www.fridaystudy.org
P.O. Box 92131
Long Beach, CA 90809-2131
"While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
