GREATLY LOVED
Sunday, August 21, 2016
"The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him." // Psalm 25.14
Tonight's sermon hit me hard. It revolved around the importance of our relationship with God. How Job, David, Daniel, and John the apostle are spoken of in the Bible as having a special relationship with God. A relationship more intimate than others around them. It was said of Job that there was "no one on earth like him." David lived "after {God's} own heart." In Daniel 9.23 {our text for tonight}, he is spoken of as "greatly loved" by God. And, John - the one whom Jesus loved.
Something was special about these men. They brought a delightful satisfaction to God's heart. And He rewarded them by revealing more of Himself to them. A prime example of this can be found in John 13.21-30. Jesus reveals to John, his beloved disciple, the one of the twelve that would betray him.
I was touched with conviction. Our walk with Christ is so often pushed to the number two spot in our lives. The number five. The number fifty! But when we look at these men - imperfect as they were - we see people who pursued their relationship with God with overwhelming ambition. And they were rewarded! Rewarded with an intimate relationship where God revealed more of himself, his will, and his wisdom to them. How beautiful a picture. I sat there tonight jealous of their intimacy with the Father, longing to be closer to him than I am.
But the sermon ended on this note: we can do something about it. The closer we listen to the scriptures preached, the deeper we delve into the Word, the greater investment we make in prayer - all with sincerity - that is what builds our relationship to God, and thus more of himself is revealed. What we do doesn't save us, but it can grow us. Let us not be lazy Christians as it is so easy to be. Let us be driven to put our relationship with God as the absolute number one in our lives. Let us be the "greatly loved."
1 comments
This is so powerful! Thanks for sharing this!
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