New Testament #2: Look With Me

Hush.  Look with me.  Do you see it?

A velvety night sky, full of stars.  Look!  A new one arises.  It shines bright.

A gentle breeze caresses emerald carpet beneath our calloused feet.  Can you feel the soft warmth of the blazing bonfire?  Sheep, fluffy and white, graze calmly afar off.  Father comes, leaning on his ancient shepherd's crook.

Of a sudden!  An angel stands above the ground.  He tells us of a Babe in a manger in Bethlehem.  He says the Child is Christ the Lord.

The velvet sky is full of them now, the angels.  They are singing "Glory to God, and on earth, peace, good will to men!"  Their music is not of earth, but of heaven.  No man can remake it.

"We must go," you whisper, and Father nods.

"What shall we bring Him?" I ask.

"A lamb," you answer.

Yes, we will take Him the best we have to offer...our favorite lamb.

Through the dark city streets we fly, yelling and calling our glad news.  But others do not listen to us.  They think we are crazy.  On we go, to the stable bare.

There!  The star rests over that stable, behind that inn.

Do you see Him?

A young woman, dark hair and sparkling eyes.  A young man, her husband, calm and collected, yet strangely in awe of what has taken place.  In her arms, his wife holds the Son of God.

You go over to the woman, and she shows you a bundle.  But it is not just any bundle.  In those tightly-wrapped blankets lie a child.  And not just any child.

The Son of God Himself.

He has dark hair, and a tiny nose.  When He opens His little eyes, they are dark like His mother's.  A little hand reaches out, and grasps for His mother.  Tiny fingers wrap around her littlest one.

Look with me.  Do you see it?

The new star in the sky.  It looks far away, but we must go.  The three of us will travel long, on weary camels' backs, and the Babe will be two or three years old by the time we arrive...but we must go.

You, bring frankincense.  You, bring gold.  I shall bring the myrrh.  We will give Him gifts.

He will grow to be a man, with friends named Peter and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Joanna and Mary.  His mother will feed Him His favorite meals, and His father will teach Him of an earthly trade.  He will give hope and strength and healing and love to many.

He will be persecuted and scorned, tried and afflicted.  He will be whipped, and given a crown of thorns.  He will wear a purple robe and be made to carry a large wooden cross.  Men -- earthly men -- will put nails in His hands and in His feet, and cause Him great pain.  They will pierce His side, and He will die upon that cross.

But He will not stay in the tomb.  He will rise again the third day.

For the Child Who is born tonight is the greatest Gift of all, and He will give us that which cannot be repaid.  He will give His life for us, and will wash away our sins for eternity.  We will live forever with Him when our time is through.

Yes, the Child Who is born tonight is the greatest Gift of all.

Old Testament #2: Enoch's City of Gold

     A long, long time ago, not very long after the creation of the world, there lived a man named Enoch.  Enoch was nothing great; he was younger than most of the great prophets and he considered himself unfit to do God's work.  Still, the Lord spoke to him one day.
     He said, "Prophesy unto this people, and tell them to repent.  Tell them I am angry with them, for their hearts are hard and they do not listen or look to My Gospel anymore.  Ever since I created them, they have sinned.  They try to reason things out by themselves, without asking Me.  They murder!  They do not keep the commandments I gave to Adam in the beginning.  I have always told them this.  I gave it to their fathers, and now it shall go forth to the world."
    Enoch heard the Lord speak these words, and he knelt on the soft earth and began to pray to God.
    "Why did You speak to me?" he asked.  "I am too young.  No one likes me because I cannot speak as well as other people.  Why do You want me to say these things to them?"
    "Go and tell them what I have told you," God said to Enoch.  "No man shall hurt you.  If you will open your mouth to speak, I will put the words in it.  All flesh is in My hands, and I will do as seemeth Me good.  Tell this people to choose to serve the Lord God Who made them.  My Spirit is with you, Enoch, and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course; and you shall live in Me, and I in you.  Walk with Me."

    God told Enoch many wonderful things, and Enoch repeated them to the people.  He preached for many hours and days and asked them to repent.  To repent means to tell God you are sorry for your sins and to ask for forgiveness, and to try not to do them again.  The people who heard Enoch's words believed them.  They began to serve God again.
   Enoch had great faith in God, and because of that, God blessed him in great ways.  Even nations feared Enoch because of the power he possessed -- God's power.  Because the people had turned their hearts to God, God came and lived with them, and they lived in righteousness.
     The Lord blessed the land, and the mountains and high places grew beautiful with plants and flowers.  The Lord called His people Zion.  They had one heart and one mind -- they were alike, and their desire was to serve God.  They dwelt in righteousness.  There were no poor people among them because everyone helped to take care of everyone else.
    Enoch continued to preach about God, even to the good people.  There is always more to learn about Him.  The people called Zion built a city, and it was a city of holiness.  They called the city, Zion, after the people who lived there.
    One day, Enoch went to have a talk with God.  "You will protect Zion forever, won't You?" he asked.
    God must have shaken His head.  "Zion have I blessed," He said, "but I have cursed the remainder of this people."  The Lord showed Enoch something, though.  Enoch turned about to look, and he saw Zion being taken up into heaven.
   The Lord said unto Enoch, "Behold Mine abode forever."  An abode is a house.  God would live in Zion forever.
    Then Enoch saw all of the people who would ever live on the earth.  God showed Enoch many wonderful and terrible things.  Enoch saw God weeping over the sins of His children and he saw Noah and the flood.
   And then Enoch saw Jesus.  He saw Jesus on the cross.  Enoch saw Jesus rise from the dead, and then he saw Him go up to Heaven to live with God.  And then Enoch asked, "Will You come back to the earth?"
    "As I live, even so will I come in the last days," God told Enoch.  "There will be a lot of hard things in those days, but I will be with My people.  And righteousness and truth will sweep over the earth like a flood, and My people will be gathered from all the quarters of the earth.  I will prepare a holy city for them, and they will go there and look for the time of My coming.  It will be my tabernacle, and it will be called Zion, a new Jerusalem.
   "And then," God said unto Enoch, "you and your city will meet them there, and we will receive them to ourselves, and they will see us.  They will run to hug us, and we will run to kiss their cheeks.  I will live there, and it will be Zion, a place come forth from all the things that I have made.  And then the earth will rest for 1,000 years."

   God showed Enoch everything that would happen, even to the end of the world.  Enoch found these things comforting, and the Scriptures say he "received a fullness of joy."  That means that Enoch was as happy as he could possibly be.

    But Enoch went back to live in the city of Zion, and at the time God knew was right, the city of Zion was taken up into heaven.

   Many years later, God spoke unto a man called Noah.  He said these words:

   "And this is Mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy; And the general assembly of the church of the firstborn shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth, and shall have place until the end come.  And this is Mine everlasting covenant, which I made with thy father Enoch."

    God said that He promised Enoch that when his children would seek the truth and look to God, Zion would look downwards to the earth in return.  The heavens and earth would tremble and shake with gladness and joy.  And the city of Zion will someday come down from heaven and be with us until the end comes.  It is our calling, as the children, to always seek God's light and truth as we prepare for Zion to return.  I can't wait; can you?

New Testament #1: The Rich Young Ruler

Jesus had been preaching in Judea on a particular day.  He had just finished blessing a few children when a young man came running up to him.
    "Master, Master, what can I do to have eternal life?" the young man asked.
    "Keep My commandments," He told the young man.
    "I have," the young man replied.  "Ever since I was a child."
    Jesus looked at the young man who was standing before Him, and He felt great love and compassion for Him.  Think of your best friend; that is how Jesus felt towards this man.  He loved him.
    "There is one thing you have not done for Me," Jesus said quietly.  "If you want to follow Me, you must go and sell everything you have.  You must give it all to the poor.  If you give up your treasure on earth, you shall have treasure in heaven.  You must take up your cross and follow Me."
     "Oh, but Master, I have so much.  How can I sell everything I own?"  The young man cried, and he went away, disappointed at what Jesus had asked him to do.  Jesus looked around to His disciples who were standing there.
    "It is very hard for those who have riches on earth to enter the Kingdom of Heaven," He told them.  The disciples looked to one another, quite confused.  "You must put your trust in God, not in your money," Jesus explained.
     "How can this be?" The disciples asked each other.  "Who could possibly be saved then?"
     "It is not possible for a man who trusts in his money to enter My Kingdom," Jesus replied.  "But if you trust God instead, and leave all your riches for Me, you shall be saved.  Whatever you leave on earth, you will receive a hundred times as much."
    Christ calls us to sacrifice for His Kingdom.  No thing is too great to sacrifice for God!  We are all called to lay down our lives for Him.  Jesus asks us to give up everything, take up our crosses, and follow Him.  A small sacrifice you can make for Him is to be kind when you want to be angry, or to lend a friend or family member a helping hand even when you are feeling tired.

What sacrifices are you willing to make for Christ?