First things First. Happy New Year! May your new year be one of not only expectation but also fulfillment. New vision. New purpose. New Focus. Or maybe Renewed vision. Renewed purpose. Renewed Focus. Either way it is all good!
A theme of paradox seems to keep surfacing in my life these days. Daily events are exposing the contradictions of life that usually remain hidden but will reveal themselves if sought out. According to dictionary.com a paradox is a "statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses possible truth." There are lessons to be learned from the things in our lives that seem contradictory.
Everyone makes resolutions and usually those resolutions involve changes in habit or behavior. As a fitness professional I encourage individuals to make small attainable goals in the New Year, behavior modification it's called. Plenty of people will make resolutions to get more exercise and eat healthier. Both are very admirable and should definitely be part of a healthy lifestyle. However, the more I think about it, the more I begin to question this culture of doing that encompasses our lives. My intention for the New Year is to wait before the Lord, contemplate, sit, rest...honor the Sabbath. I have been practicing since last year and intend to continue but it is easier said than done. The wonderful thing about waiting is that nuggets of truth eventually find their way to you.
One day I was reading and I came across a quote by Watchman Nee that talks about the paradox of the Christian life. The quote supported my theme of waiting on the Lord so I looked up the cite notation to find the source. Nee wrote a book entitled, Sit, Walk, Stand. It expounds on the book of Ephesians and the revelation of Ephesians 2:5, 6. Paul exhorts believers:
"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are save); and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (my emphasis added).
Interesting. God raised us up and made us sit. Nee's revelation about this portion of scripture just blows me away. It is a powerful truth for every believer. He writes, "Christianity does not begin with walking; it begins with sitting." (Nee, p.2). This he declares is the secret to the heavenly life. I must admit sitting is not part of my personality profile. First born, type A. Enough said. It seems much of our culture is caught up in DOING and not BEING. I am as guilty as the next person but I don't believe DOING is the life God intended for his children. It is a difficult assertion to accept. Paradox. As a fitness professional I understand that our technological advances have contributed to our transition to a sedentary lifestyle that is the primary cause for the chronic health problems facing our culture. How does a sports enthusiast and fitness professional embrace waiting, sitting, resting and Sabbath? Paradox. Nee's revelation is helpful.
"This was God's principle from the beginning. In the creation God worked from the first to the sixth day and rested on the seventh. We may truthfully say that for those first six days he was very busy. Then, the task he had set himself completed, he ceased to work. The seventh day became the Sabbath of God; it was God's rest.
But what of Adam? Where did he stand in relation to that rest of God? Adam, we are told, was created on the sixth day. Clearly, then, he had no part in those first six days of work, for he came into being only at their end. God's seventh day was, in fact Adam's first. Whereas God worked six days and then enjoyed his Sabbath rest, 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." (Nee, p.4)
WOW! Maybe the adjective "helpful" is understating this revelation! Blows the doors open is more like it! Nee presents the case with such simplicity that it is easy to miss the depth of this truth. Deep calls unto deep. First things First.
God planned for our first day to be rest, Sabbath. Our rest can't just be about "doing nothing", it has to become communion and fellowship with God. Adam originally had unbroken fellowship with God. Jesus Christ, the Second Adam, redeemed us back into God's Kingdom of light with full salvation. He gave us the ability to become the sons of God. (John 1:12). We must accept that Jesus truly paid the price in full. WE RECEIVE. While sitting in communion, in heavenly places, we learn how to operate as the sons of God. Jesus said in Matthew 11: 28-30
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]
Take My yoke upon you and LEARN of ME, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet for your souls. (my emphasis added)
For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good-not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant) and My burden is light and easy to be borne." Amplified Bible
That is the standard operating procedure for a son of God. The Son of God. We sons of God.
The Message translation states it this way, "Learn the unforced rhythms of grace" and "Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
SOP for a SON of GOD.
It's not the doing. Although the walking is good and running is great (exercise). Walking without fainting, running without growing weary requires waiting upon the Lord. (Isaiah 40:31). God made us to "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus". (Ephesians 2:6). Sit first.
First things First.
Sources:
Nee, Watchman. Sit, Walk, Stand. Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1962. Print.
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