He will go with you

During this weekend's worship services we'll hear the account of our Lord's Transfiguration when He took Peter, James, and John with Him up a mountain where His appearance was totally changed to reveal His divine nature. Moses and Elijah appeared and were talking with Him, as Luke puts it, "about His departure, which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem." You may recall that Peter didn't want the moment to end, but suggested the construction of three shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elijah because it was good to be there.

If only we can have a life of only positive experiences. In a sinful world, that is not reality. But listen to these words from the hymn 'Tis Good, Lord, to Be Here: "'Tis good, Lord, to be here! Yet we may not remain; but since Thou bidst us leave the mount, Come with us to the plain."

And the Lord's answer? "I will go with you." That's the wondrous claim of the Christian faith -- we have a God who does not treat us from a distance, but comes to us right where we are to do for us what we can't do for ourselves. For Jesus, that meant going up Mt. Calvary and dying as the Lamb of God to take way the sin of the world. But before that happened, He gave Peter, James and John the glimpse of who He is and what is to come. We need those glimpses too. 

So where do we get them? It begins with our time in the Word and worship because there the Holy Spirit helps us to fix our eyes on Jesus.

I have a request. Unless you are physically unable, would you please make it a priority to join us as we gather as a family for worship for our special Wednesday services during Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 18? I'm asking this not so we can have the joy of worshiping in a full sanctuary (although that truly is a joy), but that we put ourselves in a place where God the Holy Spirit will do His work of drawing us closer to our Lord and opening our eyes not only to see Him as He is but also to see how He would truly use us in His service. In other words, instead of thinking of giving something up for Lent, how about thinking of giving for Lent -- giving yourself, as Paul says in Romans 12:1, "as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God."