Sit

Thanks to all for your prayers and condolences concerning Jack--I am still sad about it, but God is with me and I am surviving. Oreo has been giving me much attention--and it's been quite a pleasure. I was originally going to write about something else tonight, but the Holy Spirit moved in my thoughts and I'm going to write about God for once, beginning with some lines from a book that struck me well.

Christianity doesn't begin with walking, it begins with sitting.

...sit down and enjoy what God has done for us--not to set out to try and attain it for ourselves.

We did nothing whatever to save ourselves; we simply laid upon Him the burden of our sin-sick souls.

Adam began his life with the sabbath; for God works before He rests, while man must first enter into God's rest, and then alone can He work.

I receive everything not by walking, but by sitting down; not by doing, but by resting in the Lord.

Hence, just as there is no need to wait for the initial experience of salvation, so there is no need to wait for the Spirit's outpouring. Let me assure you that you need not plead with God for this gift, nor agonize, or hold "tarrying meetings." It is yours not because of your doing, but because of the exaltation of Christ, "in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." This, no less than the forgiveness of sins, is contained in "the gospel of your salvation."

The secret of deliverance from sin is not to do something, but to rest on what God has done.

...to sit down is simply to rest our whole weight--our load, ourselves, our future, everything--upon the Lord. We let Him bear the responsibility and cease to carry it ourselves.

A meditation to explore: after reading Ephesians in conjunction with the "Sit Walk Stand" book, I came up with a mediation that really worked well for me; and it's similar to the analogy given in the book as well as the last quotation above. The passage I read was Ephesians 1 because I needed some support on who I am--I don't frequently question my position in Christ, but there are moments when I'm anxious or doubtful, and this process really eradicated those negative thoughts from my head.

Find yourself a chair you are most comfortable in. Bring your bible and sit in the chair and read Eph. 1. Don't just scan the chapter--but take in the words; take in the truth as it's written. While it's written to the Ephesians, replace that with you. It's written for you. After reading the chapter--just sit and capture those words. After a bit of time, re-read the chapter. What happens for you?

As I did this and let myself get involved in the words and my imagination, the chair disappeared and in its place, God's chest became the backrest, His legs--the cushion, and the arm rests were His arms holding the bible for me. It brings to memory the times I read books to my nephews, how they will sit upon my lap and just listen to the story--they trust in me as they sit upon my legs; and they are happy and content. The burdens I face melt away and my position in Christ, sitting upon the lap of God, is renewed.