Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

(Hebrews 2:14-15, NLT)

Photo by Robert J. DeGray

Up and into the day. I enjoyed listening to the song, “His Heart Beats,” by Andrew Peterson. Easter is a time to remember that Jesus came and put death to death. I am reading The Slavery of Death by Richard Beck and he states that rather than sin leading to death, death leads to sin.

Huh?

As I entertain the power of death, with the end that it seemingly holds and the emptiness and the unknown that it affords, I am affected to live selfishly—getting all I can out of life right now. JOMO, the Joy Of Missing Out, controls me rather than hope and faith in God.

If the fear of death dictates our lives then we will strive for all that we can get. We will see every person and situation that “trespasses” against us (makes us late, costs us time and money, hurts us by what they do or don’t do, etc.) as the enemy, and we will treat them accordingly. We will even treat our loved ones as enemies if they stand in the way of us getting all that life offers.

When we live in the fear of death we live under the Sword of Damocles, with persistent thoughts like: the clock is the ticking, don’t let anything stop you from getting all that is yours, and look out for number one. In the fear of death we do all that we can to avoid the ticking crocodile through things like, fitness, cosmetics, surgery, hair plugs, new stuff, a new spouse . . . and on and on it goes.

The fear of death leads to sin. The fear of the Lord leads to wisdom and life. On Easter, the Lord put death to death. Thus, with hope we can say, “He is Risen!” and we can live as if, "He is Risen Indeed!"

In the hush of Holy Saturday, here is a remembering of Jesus' last words from the cross.

When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39, NLT)

SELF PORTRAIT

It doesn't interest me if there is one God
or many gods.
I want to know if you belong or feel
abandoned.
If you know despair or can see it in others.
I want to know
if you are prepared to live in the world
with its harsh need
to change you. If you can look back
with firm eyes
saying this is where I stand. I want to know
if you know
how to melt into that fierce heat of living
falling toward
the center of your longing. I want to know
if you are willing
to live, day by day, with the consequence of love
and the bitter
unwanted passion of your sure defeat.

I have heard, in that fierce embrace, even
the gods speak of God.

- David Whyte
from Fire in the Earth
©1992 Many Rivers Press

So many books, so little time. I recently read a chapter titled, “Character”in The Aim of Life, by Philip Moxom, (p. 41). The book was published in 1894. It is an old book. According to the Smithsonian, all “true” diamonds are old—in the realm of hundreds of millions of years old. There is an amazing beauty and value in old things, and old books. I am glad I came across this gem by Moxom:

 

If you are to form such a character as in your best moments you both admire and covet, you will suffer yourself to be cowed by no circumstances, however menacing they may be; you will resist the slightest pressure either of fear or of selfishness; you will remember always that no evil can master you to which you do not submit. Your own choice determines, not whether you will be tempted or not, but whether or not you will be overcome by temptation; for the issue of the struggle turn not upon your individual strength alone, but upon your will reinforced by divine power. God is the ally of every soul that seeks wholly to be true.

I am currently making my way through the book of Leviticus. The rules, the details, the ornamentation, the sacrifices, the blood, the altar, the hyper focus on purity, and the seemingly meticulous minutiae, . . . wow. I don't begin to understand much of it, nor do I find it engaging reading. But through it all, I am getting a glimpse of the One upon whom it is all focused—the "Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne," (Rev. 5:6). 

The One is Jesus, the friend of sinners and the only one worthy to receive all power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

I was up early this morning, clicking through YouTube, listening to songs of praise and worshiping the Lord, and I came upon the live version of "Psalm 34" by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. I have twice had the privilege to worship at the Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York City and . . . wow, what a blessing! The choir was amazing and the presence of the Lord was palpable.

This video of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir includes so many aspects of worship: scripture, sincerity, praise, joy, singing, prayer, reverence, freedom, abandon, tears and adoration. At the end it is beautiful and powerful to watch as the worshipers, awash in the presence of the Lord, lift their praise to Jesus, like incense arising from the altar,

. . . much like in Leviticus.