Monday, December 30, 2013

"If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land" -- Isaiah 1:19.

The good of the land was meant for our provision and enjoyment, fully satisfying and richly rewarding God's Son or Daughter with one caveat - the willingness to walk through the open doors He puts before us, our obedience to listen to Papa's Voice and say what He says, do what He does. 

Isaiah 1:19 is one of my life verses, if you will, that I am repeatedly drawn to ponder.  It holds promise for me because it refers more to position of heart and attitude than anything else.  If God were saying I needed to be an expert at something in order to eat the good of the land, I'd be disheartened.  However, He is saying that I am qualified for the MORE merely by being willing to turn my attention to His Voice and by obeying what I hear Him say.
Sounds easy, but there are those distractions....  The busyness of the hour turns my head.  My agenda sometimes is as trivial as buying groceries and a visit to the gas station yet it can easily harness my thoughts to the mundane, necessary tasks.  The good of the land?  Have I even "seen" it yet?  Is there a measure to this that one wades into deeper and deeper as one gets better at listening and obeying?  I think so.
So maybe those forefathers in the faith were not living under the law when they awakened each day much earlier than I do just to spend time with God.  They were doing something much more valuable than putting their 'quiet time' into some bank account.  How trite of me to put it that way but when the 24/7 demands of family life drain me of energy, I am so quick to forget that the real fortification comes not from extra sleep but rather from extra time in the secret place with Jesus.
My first goal, and we're talking in the realm of living hour by hour in the daylight, should be to get myself happy in God.  Good morning, Papa!  Good morning, Jesus!  Good morning Holy Spirit!  And then my second goal should be to stay happy in God ALL DAY LONG even if that means throwing the proverbial apron over my head ten times in a day.  My very best I have to give someone else is never going to come from my own intellect, my wealth of experience over the years, or my training. 
Let's call it 'self-syncing' with the Triune God as I present my mind, body and emotions to Him and receive His Presence each morning. 
Giving our best to God is what we are called to "do," and that comes from stopping for the One - Jesus - and allowing Him to saturate us with His Presence.  It is only through my union with Christ that I hear His Voice and am even able to desire to be obedient to follow....  Union with Christ. 
Not so hard.  I was crucified with Christ and now it is Christ who lives in me.  It is Christ in me, the Hope of Glory.  But we leak.  Life wears on us.  WE are no different than Jesus during His 33 years of man-life on earth.  He took time to be with the Father constantly.
This isn't a treatise as you can tell.  More a rambling, but I am determined to think out loud in order to arrive at a better personal understanding of my life verse.  I believe that 'the good of the land,' also possibly equivalent to the thought of living in season of abundance is a personal choice to live in union with Christ.  HE is the good of the land.  He is the open door.  I choose to step into Him and live in His realm of reality.  Better are a few morsels with the peace of Christ ruling in my heart than to sit before a table laden with a rich man's food but restricted by the futile confines of this world's thoughts.
I'm still pondering....  Have you ever read verse 20 of that passage?  It is not quite as pleasant.

2 comments:

  1. Mmmmm...so good Elizabeth. I was seriously JUST reading the part in "Who We Are In Christ" where he talks about how the thoughts of our minds play out in our behaviors and how if we are limited to earthly thinking, we are limiting ourselves to whatever our "best" is in the natural and not able to touch that which is to be ours in the Spiritual. I pray that the MORE and the GOOD OF THE LAND come to us both! Thanks for sharing your thoughts...I was blessed reading them. PS - Just read verse 20 - yikes! Glad we are IN Jesus! ~ Jessica B.

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  2. Thanks for thinking out loud... Throwing fuel on my fire! <3 - Kathy

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