Thank You for the Encouragement

Just for a quick moment, I wanted to express my gratitude to those of you who have encouraged me and held me accountable in my efforts to lose weight. The Lord continually has to remind me about my motive for losing this weight, and I have to continually adjust my thoughts to His thoughts. My thoughts drift toward being in shape, being able to fit into normal clothing, being able to play city league basketball without an oxygen tank on the side line (really, it’s not that bad, but close). But the Holy Spirit reels my thoughts back in and reminds me that I began this journey for His glory, not mine. Certainly I will benefit from this, but my benefit should take a far second place to glorifying the Lord and proclaiming how He gave me the power to accomplish this. All glory to Him forever and ever.

Hail to the King

Last week the worship team introduced a song entitled, Hail to the King. We don’t use the word hail very often apart from speaking of the weather. What does it mean to “hail” someone? Dictionary.com says this:

1. to cheer, salute, or greet
2. to acclaim; approve enthusiastically
3. a shout or call to attract attention

Should not our lives be these things? We are a living cheer for Jesus. We are a living shout to attract attention to Jesus. As we have all been studying John Piper’s, The Blazing Center, we have learned that our lives should be a telescope that makes this infinitely large God of ours look more as He really is in the minds and hearts of those around us. If we are a living “hail” to King Jesus, then ought not the people around us be noticing His beauty, His love, His worth? We hail Him as King, and those around us take notice of our allegiance. There should be no question in the minds of your friends and coworkers that your are a Christian.

My encouragement to you this week is to think about the title of Christ, “King of kings.” We say it so much, or we hear it so often that it tends to run straight through us without a single notice. Contemplate the reality that we do have a King who is enthroned high above the universe. He requires allegiance that is above all human relationships, that goes beyond the laws of our nation, that penetrates to the core of who we are as individuals.

See you next Sunday