A Rare Moment Alone . . .

Hi Friends,

It's quiet for a moment at my house ... a rarity around here. The girls are at school, Jayden's at Grandma's next door, the baby's sleeping, Bryan's at a meeting. So, there's just me, tempted to do the dusting, fold the clothes, answer email ... in other words, fritter away this gift of a few moments to spend alone with God. But today, I'm not going to. Instead, I've come across this passage in my Bible:

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys to death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17-18).

And I'm caught by the magnificence of Christ and the wonder of being able to spend time with him. How could I waste that chance? How could I choose dusting instead? What am I thinking to even consider the call of dirty dishes and unfolded laundry?

So instead, I'm thinking about this: Imagine for a moment that you’re sitting in your favorite chair. One leg is tucked beneath you. Your Bible is in your lap, and soft music is playing in the background. Then, without warning, Christ himself is standing before you. His eyes are blazing like fire, his hair is as white at lightning, his waist sparkles with gold, his face is shining like the sun at high noon. What would you do? Would you cover your face, fall at his feet, jump up and hug him?

John, the apostle who knew Jesus so well, the one who spoke of Christ’s love most often, chose option #2. He fell at Jesus’ feet as though dead. His reaction shows us how incredible, breath-taking, magnificent Christ’s presence is.

Yet Jesus calls us daily into his presence and tells us, as he told John, “Do not be afraid.” So, I don't want to take that call lightly? I want to live in the reality of the amazing privilege we have to be able to talk with the One who not only died on the cross for us, but who holds our very lives in his hands. “The First and the Last,” the “Living One,” the One who holds the keys of death and Hades – he is the One who calls us to spend time with him today, to tell him our concerns, to listen to his guidance. He is the One who longs to share with us what’s in his heart, who desires to change us, be with us, and fill us with his wisdom and joy. He is the One who loves us.

May I never forget the wonder of that reality! Especially today!