In homogenized milk, the fat-rich cream molecules are dispersed
throughout the skim milk so that the liquid is all the same. Knowing
God's wide, deep, high, and long love, made available to me by Jesus, is
the rich cream of my life. God does not want me to allow the cream of
His love and presence to rise to the top, just to be seen by others. He
wants me to keep the richness of His love homogenized into everything
that I say and do -- all the same thing.
Similarly, a word study
of the meaning of "profess" in the following verse brought a surprising
lesson about the nature of praise.
"Through Jesus,
therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the
fruit of lips that openly profess his name." (Hebrews 13:15 NIV)
The Greek word
"homo-logeo" literally means "speak the same thing", and can also be
translated "confess". When I put that meaning back into Hebrews 13:15, I
saw that a sacrifice of praise is the fruit of lips that openly "speak
the same thing" as His name. "Name" represents the title and dignity of
the Lord and everything implied in His authority, character, rank,
majesty, power, excellence, and attributes.
We are called to use
our lips to openly and continually "speak the same thing" as Jesus'
dignity, authority, rank, majesty, power, excellence, and tender,
cherishing, compassionate, loving-kind, merciful character. This verse
instructs us to give (or sacrifice) our attention to the Lord, and to
discern what Jesus is saying and say it too. This implies being "on the
same wavelength" as Jesus, or being kindred spirits with Him.
We
can know that we are saying the same thing as Jesus does by watching to
see if we produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
(Galatians 5:22-23 NIV). If we come short of the Lord's expectation,
then "if we confess (same Greek word, "homo-logeo") our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins" and give us a re-start
(1 John 1:9 NIV).
Don't you think all that is good news?
Prayer: Father, we give You thanks. You love us and provide an infinite
number of merciful re-starts. In the name of Christ, we ask You to
enable us to speak the same thing as Jesus. Help us to mature to Your
high calling for us made possible by Your Son and the activity of the
Holy Spirit in us. Amen.
Desboro, Ontario, Canada
Thanks to
PresbyCan Daily Devotional
