Inspiration from Psalm 27

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. 4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. 7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, "Seek hisface!" Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. 10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. 11 Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. 13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; be strongand take heart and wait for the LORD.

Emptiness

Recently I've been thinking about the idea that Christians need to empty themselves of all their worldly ambitions and attachments in order to truly know the greatness and glory of Christ and to be truly ready for him to come again. If we allow distractions - family, career, money, possessions, healthy living, hobbies, or whatever - to cloud our hearts and our minds so that our treasure is in the wrong place and so that we have little time left over for God, then we are not really enjoying our relationship with him as we ought to and as he has invited us to. There are a couple of passages in Luke which have led me to think about this: Luke 5:1-11 (the calling of the first disciples); Luke 6:20-26 (where Jesus talks about blessings on the poor and woes on the rich); Luke 8:14 (Parable of the Sower: seeds on weedy ground get choked); Luke 9:57-62 (Jesus talks about the cost of following him); Luke 17:30-37 (Jesus talks about his second coming). When Jesus talks in Luke 17 about the revealing of the Son of Man, he says 'On that day no-one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no-one in the field should go back for anything' (verse 31). He is saying that if we consider our worldly interests and cares to be of greater importance than Christ, our priorities are totally incorrect. 'Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it' (verse 33). We need to consider Christ above all the things that make a part of our lives on this earth. I think about this as an emptying because we need to be prepared to put aside our dreams, ambitions, attachments, values and desires in order to elevate Christ to his rightful place at the centre of our lives. If we are ever at risk of putting any of these things before Christ, we need to re-evaluate.