The Final Outpouring

Look to the Eternal Head
Upon the many members,
You who once lit up the skies,
Though now are dying embers.

Breathe o Spirit the Life of Him
Who sits on high in Glory,
So that the Fire that lights His saints
Will finalize their story.

Then it will be as He told.
His words, they will not fail.
Upon this Rock I will build my Church,
And hell will not prevail.

J. Pecoraro

A Greater Place Than First Place

 

It was back somewhere around the eighties or the nineties that there was a popular expression among believers.  It wasn’t at all rare to hear it being proclaimed; not so much the case today.  Put God First was accentuated at prayer meetings, bible studies, in cell groups, and most of all from the pulpit.  What troubled me about it, was that for some reason it never struck a chord in me.  I wondered if maybe something wasn’t wrong in my spirit.  But there came a morning when I sat myself down to enter into a time of communion with the Lord.  Before I ever got started, five words rushed through my head.  Do not put Me first, was what I heard.  I was stunned by this, now becoming quite concerned about myself.  There came more, but not audibly as did the five words.  The Lord began to show me that first was not the best place for Him to be in the heart of the believer.  But the place where He instead desires to be, is in the Center.  He then began to show me of the problem that will always arise when we simply Put Him First.  For starters, this will indicate to us that we are about to place something second.  Since there are more things of importance to us than just two things, we will then line something else up third.  In fact, if I recall it right, the sequence used to go something like this.  God 1st, Family 2nd, Church life 3rd, Job 4th.  So what’s the problem, you may ask?  The problem is that the God who the universe cannot contain should be separated from all else.  I believe this is what Peter meant when he wrote to us, “separate God in your hearts.”  Separate Him from what?  Separate Him from all that there is. 

Somewhere in the heart of the believer, there should most definitely be family, friends, fellow believers, our dreams, desires, meditations, memories and so on.  But then there should be at the heart’s core - God alone.  Does He not deserve a place in us that we have sanctified for Him and no other - a place untouched by anything and everything that can be imagined?  Surely He does.  The God of all creation must be separated from all that is within us; a place set apart for Him only; a place greater than first place - namely in the center of our being.  It is there that He must ever dwell.  As far as all of the people and the things that we hold dear are concerned, these we must place all around Him, with He himself as the Hub.  But with God ever being our focal point, will we not begin to neglect the things that we have set just outside of Him?  On the contrary, these will become even greater in our eyes, while relationships with loved ones only abound.  In fact, we will discover that the love of people in general has risen to new heights in us. 

I believe we have all seen horse races at one time or another.  If not, I’m sure that we have heard of the sport.  At the start of each race the thoroughbreds are led into their gates, one at a time.  When all are in, it is only a matter of a few short seconds and the gates are opened.  The horses are off and running.  The turf soon will be flying from their hooves while each jockey begins to vie for position.  Often there is a front-runner who sets the pace for the running.  Though this horse may be out in front for a good part of the contest, he usually does not win.  In fact, he may even be passed up by quite a few of  the other contestants before the race is over.  We are now going to stop here and I am going to ask something of you.  I am going to ask you to imagine everything that is dear to you - persons, places or things - as being like horses in a race.  Next, I’d like for you to see the Triune God as the front-runner.  After all, this is where we would normally have Him, upon being saved by His glorious grace.  Suddenly we have come to feel so new; it seems that from out of nowhere a bright new world has opened up to us.  Our mind seems to ever be on God and the things of God.  What is this miracle that has happened?  The miracle is this.  We have asked our Lord and Creator to be before all things in the new life He has given us - to be at the head of the pack; to take His position before all that we hold dear.  We have finally discovered what life is really about and how it is to be lived.  Nothing will ever be the same again.  Not true.  Nothing will ever be the same again if He remains the front-runner.  But what happens to us as believers - and more than not - is that we begin to allow other things to pass the Lord up on our racetrack.  Then one day our eyes become opened to the fact that family has ran right by Him; our job has done the same, and even long ago; dreams and interests are running neck and neck with the One who once was first; soon they too will pass Him by.  No wonder we’ve been feeling down in the dumps for quite a while now. It also explains why we don’t seem to sense the nearness of the Spirit like we used to; no desire to read His Word or pray.  What is the answer?  What do we do in order to know and experience the joy of the Lord again?  The answer I am going to give, is the answer you have already heard.  You need to take the Lord off of that track altogether.  He never did belong there in the first place.  The dangers of having Him be on the same track as all of the other things we hold dear is what you have just finished reading about. 

What we can and most likely will do at times in our life, will be to allow what we had once put behind our Saviour, to now start passing Him by - the One who in His hand holds everything; and that is everything minus nothing.  And so I ask this question.  Should such a One be placed by us in the same arena with things that He is so far above?  How far above?  Infinitely above.  Isaiah saw this and wrote it down for us.  Peter instructed us on what to do about the matter.  “Sanctify God in your hearts,” he said.  To sanctify is to separate.  This tells us that the Lord our God does not belong on the same ground with other things - our work, our dreams, not friends or family.  His greatness is such that He should never have to contend with anything.  Neither will He do so.  If we would have it so that our dreams and desires pass Him by, He will always grant us our choice in the matter.  Grieved will He be, but He will not stay our hand.

There is a fundamental truth that all believers must learn.  The sooner we learn and apply this truth, the quicker we will arrive at perfect peace and in perfect agreement with the Majesty on high.  That truth is this.  He is our All in all.  King David had certainly grasped this concept.  This is why he was able to say, “Who have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none that I desire upon the earth but Thee.”  The eyes of Israel’s greatest king were ever on the Lord.  No wonder his God described him as a man after His own heart.  This would not have been true if David didn’t first separate the Lord from all that was within him.  He granted Him that special place in the very core of his being. 

What are the implications of it all?  If we lose our job, He is greater than our job.  If we lose our house, He is greater than our house.  If we lose even family, He is greater than our family.  It is why Martin Luther once wrote, Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also.  Difficult it is indeed to not have a single idol stand before Him.  But until that is so, can we truly say that He is our All in all, the Head of the body, even the Head of all that has been created?  He is God our Maker - loving us more than we can ever begin to grasp.  First is not the place for Him, but He is at home only at the Center of who we are.  It is the place to which no number will ever become attached, a secret place, created for none other but you and the Lover of your soul. 

Praises eternal, to the High and the Holy, to our only God and King, for all that He has done for those who have been made in His image. 


-J. Pecoraro