Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Appointment (02/09/12)
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TITLE: To Meet the King | Previous Challenge Entry
By Ruth Thoutenhoofd
02/14/12 -
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I’ve been told that you have to wear your best to meet the King; that you dishonour him by looking untidy or dressed in your work clothes. (That’s the argument given to make us wear a dress or tie to church). But I don’t feel shy about meeting him with my unwashed face and my tattered robe and my bare feet. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t care what I look like.
Others want to make rules for how each appointment with the King should go. They say I need to adore Him first, then confess my sin, then thank him for what he’s done for me, then ask him for what I need. I wonder what my best friend would say if that’s what I did over coffee. I’ve tried to imagine it: “Hi Terry, You look so nice today! Do you know what I appreciate about you? You’re always on time! I’m sorry I forgot to email you. Thanks for paying for the coffee. And by the way, I need you to give me a ride to the mechanic’s on Tuesday.” I think she’d wonder if I was on something stronger than caffeine!
No – I believe I can come to God just as I am, with no pretences and no agenda. I believe he is always waiting for me, hands outstretched, ready for me to cry out for help, confess a bad attitude or lack of self control, explode in gratitude, worship with sincerity, or just sit and listen. He is real and he understands. He speaks to me. He speaks through my open Bible if I’m even if I'm not systematically going through a section a day. He speaks through my journal and love for creative writing. He speaks at church, and he speaks in private.
I can tell him about my lack of sleep and what happened yesterday. I ask him to tell me what to do about the teenager that lied to me last night. I tell him I really, really need him this day because there’s so much to do, and I am so weak. And more often than not, people come to mind that also need him, and I ask him to help them too. Sometimes I write a list or go through my prayer card file; sometimes I just close my eyes and let him bring them to mind.
God is my King and my friend. He loves me, reprimands me, inspires me, disciplines me, gives me wisdom and comfort. We have an appointment most mornings, but if I miss one, he doesn’t make me feel guilty. But I usually regret it. Those days feels unfocused and a little lame. That’s because I drift off into secular thinking so quickly.
It’s called “abiding in him”. We need to stick close, stay tight. We need to remember what a privilege it is to have the King of the Universe ready and willing to meet with us one on one, any time we choose. We need to remember how necessary it is for our very life.
“Yes, I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who remain in me and I in them will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NL
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Do you ever just sit companionably with Him, not praying or anything, just being?
Thank you for whetting our appetites for His presence.