(Continued:)
Everything is now changed. Can you even imagine – the only begotten son of God taking his breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the breast of the young Jewish mama? And the Jewish mama, along with the honorable wood worker husband, must teach the young lad how to talk, how to walk, and how to feed himself. They teach him sanitary habits, when to go to bed, when to get up, how to dress, how to keep his room clean, and the necessary respect for elders, friends, and neighbors. Later, he must learn how to even get along with siblings and other tribe members, like the Jewish mama’s cousin, Elizabeth, and maybe even her son, John.
Here’s a word picture I would like for you to consider depicting the young boy as he grows up in the community: The lad rolls out of bed, washes his hands and face and joins his family for breakfast. He excuses himself from the table, again washes his hands and face and brushes his beautiful hair. He then puts on his little cloak, adjusts it just right, walks across the living room floor heading for the door. He bends down, slips on his sandals, and latches them. As he stands, he turns toward his pretty Jewish mother. She embraces him, runs her young fingers through his gorgeous hair, kisses him on the forehead, and sends him on his way.
On his way to where? On his way to where? She sends him off to the Jewish Rabbinical School. Can you even imagine – the local Rabbi in the city of Nazareth who is assigned to teach the only begotten son of the Father all about God? But the lad was a careful learner, and indeed, later became a Jewish Rabbi, himself.
At some point, however, I would suspect that the only begotten son of God, the creator of everything, would just run flat out of patience with the goofy behavior of earthly humans. But, no. We don’t see that at all. He was kind, warm, compassionate, engaging, and even gentle. He would reach out and draw others in. He would entreat and include. And that is where I began to personally identify with this story.
It was this same Jesus who would personally come to me, upon occasion, and pursue and entreat me. “Jim, I would like for us to get better acquainted. You know, we are brothers and I love you very much. You know, all of God’s children have but one Father, and you and I are joint heirs of everything that meets your eye. In fact, that is why I have come to you today. Our Father has sent me to you to tell you that you have found favor in his sight and wants you to know that you, your son Doug, your son Jay, and your grandson Jace are invited to the big house where he would like to get even better acquainted with you. He is also eager for you to get better acquainted with him.
Our heavenly Father wants you to know that it is absolutely appropriate to offer to you a partnership opportunity in an enterprise that will include bringing his kingdom to this earth, even as it is in heaven. “Are you serious?” I would ask. “Out of all the people who have ever lived, why should we be so privileged? The way I have it quickly figured is that God has emitted literally billions of never-dying souls into the procreation process of passionate couples who ended up having little babies. Just think of how many people there have been throughout history. Are you sure that he wants to offer to me and my little family a partnership opportunity in his enterprise?”
Jesus picked up on the conversation, “You seem to forget that we know everything there is to know about you. We know that you are a true believer and worshipper. We also know that you have faithfully read the holy scriptures and through that you have learned that God the Father Almighty has worked in partnership with human individuals ever since he first created man. He has partnered with kings, and priests, and generals, and common people, and prophets. That’s not new.”
He then continued, “You also are aware that those relationships always operate on a common model. That common model includes the factors of: Insight, Opportunity, and Obedience. You see, the Holy Spirit of God gives a person an insight. Then he sets about engineering the circumstances so that the person gets a very real and very personal opportunity to respond with obedience or disobedience regarding that insight. How that person responds during that opportunity makes all the difference in the world. That response sets into motion results and consequences that will alter eternity. Here’s the way it usually works:
Let’s say that God gives a certain young man an insight. God then goes about engineering that person’s circumstances so that the fellow has a very distinct opportunity to respond to that insight that he received for his daily life. But in that opportunity the young man responds, “Oh, I am so close to having this whole thing figured out. I now know the formula of how to accumulate and amass all the gold, all the girls, and all the glory that I will ever need in my entire lifetime. Don’t bug me just now. I can’t afford to be distracted from my formula and my dreams. Just go away.” Blam! History is made.
Or, God might give an insight to a certain lady. He then engineers her circumstances so that she is presented with a very valid opportunity to respond to the insight God had given to her. She sees clearly what needs to be done, but responds, “That makes a lot of sense. I know that is what I ought to do, but there are so many things I just don’t know about. I think I will just wait and see how all this works out in the future. I sort of like how everything is going now. Blam! History is made. She just chose not to obey regarding the insight. She has now set into motion “lag-time” and postponed obedience is non-the-less disobedience in the long term.
Again, God may give a compelling insight to an individual, then engineer the circumstances giving that individual a timely opportunity to respond to that insight with either obedience or disobedience. When the individual considers his situation, and contemplates the God given insight that has just been received, he jumps at the chance to obey immediately. “Yes, yes, what an exciting concept. I can do that. I will gladly pursue that opportunity immediately! I want to be faithfully involved in everything that will help me become exactly what God had in mind for me when he created me. I want to be eager and on tip toe to get started on this new insight. Blam! History is made. Eternity will not be the same from that point on.
Next Week: Same story continued