A Burden of Glory
What if I told you that God’s greatest desire for us and our most important obligation in the Christian life was the pursuit of joy? Would you believe me?
Many wouldn’t. For many good, dedicated Christians, the concept of sacrifice, dying to oneself, discipline and training, mortifying the flesh, all have a rather somber, serious tone about them that leaves little room for joy.
I understand them but I don’t agree.
I have to say that this is my favorite “truth” in the seven truths of Romans 8.
We looked at the truth that there is now NO CONDEMNATION (Romans 8:1) and the truth that there are also NO EXCUSES since we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us (Romans 8:11).
Then the obvious question always comes up, “How do I know that I have the Holy Spirit in me?” and there we talked about the truth of EVIDENCE OF LIFE (Romans 8:15b, 16) which the Holy Spirit himself gives us.
And then we talked about the truth of SUFFERING and GLORY (Romans 8:17,18) which make all of us a bit uncomfortable (but maybe excited at the same time).
But I have to say that I am always blown away by this whole idea of PRAYER SUPPORT (Romans 8:26,27,34).
One of these days I want to write some stories about David and his mighty men. Everybody knows the basics about King David, how he slew Goliath, how he patiently waited for God to make him king and would not raise his hand against Saul even though Saul hunted for him and tried to kill him multiple times. But there is so much more to the story… and it is fascinating!
I especially like the stories about David’s mighty men. In I Chronicles 11 and 12 we get some glimpses of who they were. “These were the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish (they were among the warriors who helped him in battle; they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed…” (I Chronicles 12:1,2 NIV).
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