Disclaimer: Before reading the article, watch the clip until the end or the article will make no sense.
As I was watching this video, I thought of these verses: “Therefore,
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside
every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of
our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
I haven’t lost my mind I promise. I just thought the whole situation is a
perfect example of a believer’s most experiences in this life, and since I think
in images, I thought this was an apt image to bring home a point.
Observe that all that crowd is there for the Yankee’s
baseball team. They’re there to cheer on a game. They all have their own little
worlds and reasons, but they’re there for something greater than themselves. I’ve
never had any inclination to watch a baseball game, so I had to google how long
a game lasts and the answer is between 2.5 to 3 hours. I can’t imagine anything
more boring than that, but I’m sure that to the fans it’s quite enjoyable. The
little girl is there too and she’s bored, so she begins to do something that in
the grand scheme of things or even in relation to the game itself has absolutely
no baring. She keeps flipping a water bottle until the people around her, one
eye to the game, start encouraging her for no apparent reason. What begins as a
joke, I’m sure, turns into a veritable cheerleading squad and they continue to
cheer on until she finally lands the bottle in perfect position, and they all
rejoice as if their team just scored.
Our Christian walk is not about ourselves. We walk together
because we cheer on something greater than ourselves, i.e., the Kingdom of God.
We’re all in our own little worlds, with our own little wishes and desires, but
from time to time it’s good to look at our ‘bored’ brothers and sisters that
are needlessly flipping some water bottle. We might understand how inane the
whole endeavour is, but they’re there to cheer with us for the Kingdom, and if
flipping a bottle is important to them, my goodness, just cheer them on until
they land the silly thing! You just look like a perfect idiot if you start
going around at every person in the crowd trying to convince everybody that “hey,
this is not why we’re here!” or “this little girl should just focus on the game
because she’s distracting everybody from the main thing”, or “how does landing
the bottle help the advancement of the game?!” Brother, bored or not that
little child is there to cheer Christ on. Nobody made you cheer squad policeman,
so relax and if you can’t cheer them on, then just be quiet.
To all the cheerers our there, those that can keep an eye on
the game but also look around them, bless your hearts, encourage the lame, and
the saddened, and the bored, and the hurt in the Body of Christ and I promise
you that the whole heaven will rejoice with you when it’s finally your turn to
flip a bottle perfectly.
“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the
fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays
anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to
everyone.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15)
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to
the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
“Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so
that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not
slip from your heart as long as you live.” Deuteronomy 4:9
I have been given a precious gift. The Son of The Almighty
God. He is precious to me. I was dead in my sins, and He brought me to life and
the life I now live is to know Him as I have been known by Him. That is
precious to me. He lives in me. In the very core of who I am. The problem is
that I am sinful and prone to forget and prone to wonder, so in order that I
don’t lose sight of my King, I need to be on my guard lest I forget, lest I get
sidetracked, lest I fall. Because make no mistake, there is an enemy out there
only too willing to attack and steal and kill my treasure.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came
that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)
As I was writing and thinking of an illustration that would
best describe what I’m trying to say, I think the best image I can come up with
is the story of King Jehoash and Athaliah.
King Ahaziah, of the kingdom of Judah, dies and as soon as
his mother finds out about it, she decided to kill everybody in her son’s line
so she could rule the kingdom by herself (2 Kings 11:1, 2 Chronicles 22:10). King
Ahaziah’s sister takes away the king’s son, Jehoash, and hides him away from
his grandmother. Ahaziah’s sister was married to the high priest Jehoiada, so
they hide him for 6 years in God’s Temple. There was no chance for Athaliah to
go look for Jehoash in The Temple, because she was serving other gods that had
other temples. When Jehoash was 7 years old, Jehoiada strengthened himself,
gathered all the priests and Levites and the heads of all the families in Judah
and proceeded to make a human shield around the king whenever the king would
make any move or go anywhere. They went so far as to even carry sword and shield
to protect the king. At last they brought the king and proclaimed him king
and made him sit on his throne and all the people were rejoicing so loudly that
Athaliah heard the commotion. She came and saw the king sited on the
throne and she tore her robes and began yelling like a lunatic, “treason!” but of
course she gets executed by the order of Jehoiada.
My King is in the Temple. “Do you not know that your body is
the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you
are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19) The enemy can scheme all he wants; I’ve
hidden The King in The Temple and I have put guards around Him. He’s precious
to me. I don’t watch whatever I want, I don’t listen to whatever I want, I don’t
speak however I want, because that would not honour my King. I live for more
than this life. I try to daily carve into the flesh of my heart His covenant,
lest I forget what it is all about.
Do I always get it right? No! But I make it my aim to please
Him (2 Corinthians 5:9). Even on days when I am faced like Solomon with a dilemma
of distinguishing between my King and the imposter, I know the test that will
reveal the true owner of my heart. In Solomon’s case, there are 2 mothers and 1
baby, both mothers claiming that the living baby is theirs and the dead baby
belongs to the other (1 Kings 3:17-28) Solomon asks for a sword and orders that
the living child be cut in two so they each get a share. The real mother of the
child says, “no, let him live even if you have to give him to this other woman.”
The imposter says, “cut him in half! Neither of us should have him!” The owner
of my heart will always choose to spare its life while the enemy will yell like
a lunatic, “no, cut it in half! Neither of us should have it!”
My Lord is precious to me because He paid the ultimate price
to have me. The least I can do is protect Him from my doubts and double
mindedness, from my unfaithfulness and pride, from my self-righteousness, and my
manipulation to get Him to do what I want. My King is precious to me and I’ll
protect Him in my heart, no matter what, even if I have to kill every Athaliah
in the land.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war
according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but
have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty
opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to
obey Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
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