7 August 2015 - fix in your hearts

This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart,
that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below,
and that there is no other.

After all, what else is there? 

"Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you" (cf. Psa. 73:25).

And yet "we like sheep, have gone astray" (Isa. 53:6).

We know that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on the earth below, and that there is no other. But apparently it isn't fixed in our hearts just yet.  What profit is there for going astray and chasing after the things of this world?

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever (cf. 1 Joh. 2:15-17).

What good is it to gain all of that and forfeit our lives? What of that can we give in exchange for our lives? "For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct."

The alternative to going astray and seeking the world seems pretty harsh. "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." Yet we are called to remember that this is the only way to find true life.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

When everything looks easier than the path God has for us we need to "remember the deeds of the LORD" and his wonders of old. We need to meditate on his works and ponder his exploits. This isn't the first apparently unwinnable battle which the LORD has fought. 

For love of your fathers he chose their descendants
and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power,
driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you,
so as to bring you in 
and to make their land your heritage, as it is today.

He has won many such battles in the past. He is already victorious against sin and death. It's just that the way we share in the victory is by sharing in the cross. This cross can feel like overwhelming darkness and abandonment. But if we "remember the deeds of the Lord" and how profoundly and intimately close he comes to us, "speaking from the midst of fire" than we fix in our hearts that he is the LORD. We trust him to shepherd us through dark valleys (cf. Psa. 23) and even trust him enough to embrace the crosses he offers us.