God's Word: Loud and Clear

Have you ever experienced something that is so crystal clear that you just had to stop and be fully in the moment?
A few nights ago I had that experience when I was laying on my deck looking up at the sky.  It was about 9:30 at night and the sun was shining onto the dark clouds giving a surreal pink tinge to everything.  It had been a hot, humid day so there were a lot of dark clouds swirling overhead. 

And it was like a dance. . . .Clouds, sky, light, it was all dancing before my eyes and it was breathtaking.

I started to think about the "gospel" that we so often talk about.  What is it like to you?  Is it a set of rules and regulations that are to be obeyed?  Is it something that depicts an amazing event in history but has little power for life today?  Does it seem to be a good and right thing but it just doesn't seem to have a lot of "traction" in your life?

Does it dance?

1 John 1:1 has John describing the gospel:  "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life."

The gospel.  To John, the gospel, this "good news" was something that had weight, substance, depth and history.  It was something that breathed and flexed, it had muscles that moved and pursued.  What he had experienced was something that had captured his imagination and wouldn't let go.  John had met the gospel!  Can you imagine that for one second---he met the gospel.

The gospel that John experienced was something that he 1. heard, 2. saw and 3. touched.  We are all too familiar with the gospel as presented as something we hear.  But when was the last time you saw the gospel?  And when did you last touch the gospel?  These are important parts of the dance of the gospel because these things combine to paint a picture so compelling that you simply can't help but to stop and be changed by it.

When I lay on my deck I saw the beauty of nature dancing all around me.  Our Heavenly Father wants us to be just as captured in our imaginations by the dance of the gospel that can be seen, heard and touched.  When this begins to happen, we are beginning to see Jesus.

Always remember that you are loved. . . .

BT