You'd better sit down for this one...
On-the-go, going-flat-out, rat-race, non-stop-without-a-break….are just a few phrases that describe our pace of life. Cell phones on our hips or clamped to our ears, incomplete sentences thru text messaging, Blackberry's vibrating to alert us to incoming messages, scrambling to find an outlet to plug in the computer at the airport or coffee shop and the list goes on. Drive thru's are too slow. Microwaves take forever. Life is one mad rush. We are busy people and super fast too! Our ancestors would be frightened if they saw us flash by – they would think we were living in a perpetual state of emergency!
You can be rushing from class to class and strike gold academically. You can run non-stop up the ladder of corporate success. You can chase after materialism and scramble after entertainment, filling up your social calendar with multiple adrenalin-rushing activities. You can accomplish pretty well anything in this life going flat-out. But you can not know God or enjoy Christ going at the same speed. I can not grow spiritually going flat-out. I can not deepen my relationship with Christ by frantically grabbing my Bible, latching on to a verse for the day, doing the one second daily prayer and then rushing out the door. I will shrivel up spiritually if that's my norm.
In Solomon's Song of Songs there is a picture of someone trying to describe the one she loves. Poetically, she compares her lover to a flourishing apple tree among a bunch of regular trees in a forest. He stands out from the rest and she sits down under the shadow of that tree enjoying its comforting shade and the delicious apples for her nourishment. It's the picture of rest, tranquility, and enjoyment. Does this verse describe your experience with your Beloved Lord Jesus Christ?
As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
So is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight,
And his fruit was sweet to my taste.
Song of Solomon 2:3
A boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, a wife-husband relationship or a friend to friend relationship can not be deepened or strengthened or developed on-the-run. It takes time alone together to grow a deep relationship. If I am going to know God more fully, enjoy Christ more intimately and experience more power in my Christian life, I have to spend quiet time alone with Christ. I have to sit down under His shadow frequently and regularly.
Be sure to block out a chunk of time today to sit down under HIS shadow. Breathe a prayer to the Lord to slow your pounding pulse, quieten your anxious spirit and to settle your jumpy, racing mind so you can concentrate on what you are reading in your Bible. The more time I spend sitting down under His shadow, the more I will be delighted with Him. His uniqueness from all others will become more obvious. Before you close your Bible and get up off your knees, be sure to tell Him today that you love Him. Sit down and enjoy Christ today.
By Peter Ramsay
posted by Joel Chan @ 10:36 PM
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