Kyle is at work...
The girls are still sleeping...
It's been a delightfully quiet morning & as I gaze out the window, deer cross the road near our home.
We've finished Genesis in our family Bible reading plan.
This morning I read chapters four through twelve in Exodus.
I love how God's Word completely transforms my early mornings in preparation for a new day & as I read, the Holy Spirit allows words that I have read so many times before to be fresh in my heart. To come alive. To speak to me personally. To show me things lacking. To give me hope as I seek to live more like Christ each day that I am gifted to live.
It amazes me how a Word that was written long ago still applies to my life today...
How it has the power to transform...
How it changes me from the inside out...
For the past few years at the start of the new year, each of us in our family have chosen a word to focus on. We pray over what God is teaching us & how we discern He is molding us. We ask Him to shine deep within the recesses of our hearts & reveal one specific thing He desires to refine & work out in our lives. It may be something we are lacking in, struggling with, having trouble grasping... We find a verse (or multiple verses) to be the foundation of the word we feel Him searing into our hearts/minds.
This year I started earnestly praying in December that God would make it clear what word He would have me to choose for 2013. I knew where I "was at", how I was feeling & what had become typical frame-of-mind for me. Even though it was "normal", I knew it was causing me to be "less than" for my family & all those I encountered. And most of all, I knew because of this mind set, I was missing out...
As I prayed, the Holy Spirit revealed to me the cause & the core of the stress, heaviness & lack of joy I was feeling. As He revealed such truth, I asked Him to show me His plan & my part for alleviating that frame of mind...how to find deliverance from the place I was in...how to restore fullness into my life... That's when He said, "I want your word for the new year to be SAVOR..."
I grabbed right a hold of the word & started doing some studying on it...
savor - relish; experience; appreciate
Okay...I get it...
*I need to slow down.
*I need to take more time.
*I need to interrupt the hurry.
*I need to listen.
*I need to stop the mental running.
*I need to prioritize.
*I need to quit rushing through one thing so I can arrive at another.
*I need to cease taking on more than I am capable of doing.
*I need to absorb EACH moment...
*I need to quit making life an emergency...
I had allowed the acceleration of my life to get so out of control that I wasn't enjoying anyone or anything. I couldn't appreciate the moment I was in because while I was doing the activity I was engaged in, mentally I had already arrived at the next task/activity/responsibility/commitment... My mind was in a constant state of motion & not only was it causing me stress but it was making me cranky & my attention span was nill. I was still giving my best to what I was doing but I was majorly lacking in being with who I was with... I mean truly being with them... Engaging... Listening... Relishing... Appreciating... Savoring...
I was aware & I was ready for change...
As I studied further, I found this:
King James Version:
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
The New American Standard Bible says it like this:
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
The Message Bible puts it this way:
In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse. 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
I reached for commentaries to glean the full meaning...
*"sweet savor" is applied to persons/things well-pleasing to God.~ It properly means good odor or fragrance & is frequently applied to the incense that was burnt in public worship of God & to sacrifices in general.
**"of Christ" - that is, we are Christ's sweet savor to God: we are that which He has appointed & which He has devoted & consecrated to God; we are the offering, so to speak, which He is continually making to God
Wow! As I read & reread over what I was finding, I began to put it in first person form:
*I am Christ's sweet savor to God.
*I am that which He has appointed.
*I am that which has been devoted & consecrated to God.
*I am the offering which He is continually making to God.
And then I asked myself, "Am I those things? Am I that person? Do I live as though I have been consecrated?" I mean, offerings are to be pure, unspotted, without blemish... I am FAR from being in offering "condition"...
I sat with Kyle for quite some time sharing with him what I had found & how I felt God speaking to me... I conveyed to him that I acknowledge how lacking I am yet how God longs to equip me... How blemished I am yet how Christ washes me clean... How often I fall short of my "appointments" yet how adequately He empowers me... How "rotten" I so often smell yet how my Maker longs to saturate me with His aroma...
As I reflected on all of these things, I saw where the dictionary's definition of savor & the Biblical connotation go hand in hand... In order to be what God wants me/desires me to be, I must experience time with Him... I must relish being in His presence... I must sincerely appreciate the sacrifice He made for me so that I can be for Him all that He wills & created me to be. In order to be used of Him, I must interrupt the hurry, prioritize my life according to His schedule & be available. I must daily seek His cleansing, saturate myself with His Word & slow my pace.
Even after only 19 days, I am more aware...
