The lovely scent of “Tis the Season” is wafting through my
apartment. Besides that candle, the Christmas
trees (yes, I have more than one J)
and the paper stars are the only lights on.
Yes, the dishwasher is going.
Yes, my hair is wet from my shower.
And, yes, I have laundry waiting for me to rescue it from the heat of
the dryer.
But after all the clutter of the day is gone – I can finally
sit and rest. I don’t know why, but it
is really hard for me to rest when there is disorder. When I see clutter, I either have to get rid
of it….or make more organized piles. (And,
yes, often the organized piles are the option I choose.) Clutter can be visible things, like unopened
mail. But clutter can also be invisible…like
my thoughts.
Too often, my thoughts are so cluttered that I have no room
for Jesus.
“Jesus.
What a beautiful name. I love to
watch how it falls off the lips of those who love Him. I shudder as it falls off the lips of those
who don’t.
It has been the most important and most consistent word in my
life. Dearer today than yesterday. Inexpressibly
precious.
Jesus.”
I read that quote from a book by Beth Moore this morning,
and it reminded me of a lesson God taught me a few weeks ago….which I promptly
forgot because my mind got cluttered.
In I & II Peter, the word “precious” is used frequently:
1.
I Peter 1:7 “…your faith – of greater worth
(more precious) than gold…”
2.
I Peter 1:19 “…redeemed…with the precious blood of Christ.”
3.
I Peter 2:4
“As you come to Him, the living Stone – rejected by men but chosen by
God and precious to Him – “
4.
I Peter 2:6 “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a
chosen and precious cornerstone, and
the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame…”
5.
I Peter 2:7 “Now to you who believe, this stone
is precious…”
6.
II Peter 1:4 “…He has given us His very great
and precious promises…”
Apparently, Peter likes to remind us that we have been given
precious things. Faith. Jesus’s blood. Jesus Himself. Jesus’ promises. (And
there are more verses that I didn’t put down…)
All of the words that we translate as “precious” in English
can come from a number of different Greek words. Most of those words are somewhat related to
the root word, “Timios”.
Timios means: “valuable,
that is (objectively) costly, or (subjectively) honored, esteemed,
or (figuratively) beloved: -
dear, honorable, (more, most) precious, had in reputation.”
Isn’t it interesting that something can be objectively
costly, yet not honored or beloved?
Jesus is objectively valuable, whether I realize it or
not. He deserves to be honored and
esteemed. He deserves to be beloved.
Do I consider Him inexpressibly precious? Is He
objectively, subjectively, and figuratively precious to me?
This is where the clutter needs to be cleared out of my mind. I make time for precious things. I need to make time for…to make room for…precious
Jesus.
I have had a very full semester. Just looking back through my journal, I have
been blessed to do many things. I’ve
gone on adventures (trips to PA, VA, TN, SC), read books (Radical by
Platt – made me think a lot, Bonhoeffer by Metaxas – wow, etc), heard great
speakers, laughed, sang, played guitar, played Frisbee, spent time at a college
ministry, seen progress happen on my thesis, felt like I was on top of the
world… But I’ve also cried, felt
inadequate, alone, tired, angry, and frustrated.
Sometimes too many things (even good ones) can result in thought-clutter. No wonder I found myself frustrated and upset
and unreasonably emotional at times.
(haha…girls are never emotional.)
What if I had sat down and taken time to remove the clutter with
journaling and praying? What if Jesus
was given His proper place in both my heart and my mind? Well…I think He’d help clear out that clutter
lickety-split! J
It’s been awhile since I last wrote a post, and I could go
on for a while. But I want to write down
just three more things that struck me in
the past few weeks.
1.
“Bendetti,…author of ‘Stabat Mater,’ one day was
found weeping, and when asked the reason of his tears, replied, ‘I weep because Love goes about unloved.’”
(MacDonald Commentary, p. 745)
2.
“Lord, Thy love has sought and found us –
Wandering through this desert wide – Thou hast thrown Thine arms around us –
For us suffered, bled and died – Sing,
my soul, He loved thee – Jesus gave Himself for me….Ah, my soul, He loved thee –
Yes, He gave Himself for me.” (#95
BB)
3.
“Indeed, the very core of worship is to take
those truths we learn about the Lord Jesus Christ from the Bible, to meditate
on them, and then present them back to the Father with a heart-felt cry, ‘Father, we see how beautiful Your Son
is! We join you in taking pleasure in
Him.” (Shawn Abigail)
Don’t those quotes just grab you? They grab me.
Do I weep because Love goes about unloved? Or do I weep because I feel like I’m going
about unloved? Do I sing because Jesus
loved me – enough to give Himself for me?
At church tomorrow, will I truly worship? Will I join the Father in taking pleasure in
the Son?
I so desire this quote from Beth Moore to be true of the
name “Jesus” in my life:
“It has been the most important and most consistent word in my
life. Dearer today than yesterday. Inexpressibly
precious.”
And may His preciousness, (“timios”), be objective, subjective
and figurative in my life. He is
deserving of all three.
I guess it’s time to blow out the candle and really get the
laundry now. But even if my apartment gets cluttered again tomorrow…may my mind be clutter-free and Jesus-filled. J
