A new year, 2023. A year of new revelations of God. A deeper knowledge of Him for all who desire this.
God wants to show Himself mightily this year. He is on the move. The ripples have already begun. Are we stepping in?
I started my 1st day of the year where the bookmark was in my Bible: Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing. (wow)
Yes, even in year 23, the Lord is our Shepherd. And when we let Him be our Shepherd (!), nothing will be lacking for us. For He Himself is our source and foundation.
We will not lack peace and protection, even if there are threats around us. We will not lack joy, even if there are negative circumstances around us. We will not lack acceptance, even though rejection is thrust upon us. We will not lack satisfaction, for He Himself satisfies our souls.
But how do we begin to experience this?
Back to the beginning. When did God create man? On the 6th day. In fact, at the end of the 6th day. On that day, God made first the animals and lastly man. Then God was done with creation. Everything was done, everything was perfect and He saw that it was very good. Then God rested. Not because He was tired, but everything was finished.
So man’s first full day of life began in the rest and completion of God. The work was done. God did not need man to make anything more. Man did not need to give God a hand. There was simply nothing more to add to what God had done.
There is a deep lesson here that shows an important principle of God. A principle we will also encounter further in the Bible.
But first, let’s bring in a contemporary parable.
Once there were 3 men who were trekking through a large nature reserve. One day over the hills they saw a forest fire approaching. Panic struck their hearts. One man ran hard to the highest hill and climbed a tall tree. The other turned and began to run toward civilization. And the last one stood nailed to the ground and thought of what to do to escape the infernal fire. He grabbed his lighter and set fire to the field in front of him. He waited until it was scorched and then stood in the middle of the scorched field.
The forest fire approached and the man in the tree was engulfed by the flames. The other man could not run fast enough and was overtaken by the fire. He too perished.
But the man standing in the middle of the scorched field survived the hellish fire as it passed by, for there was nothing combustible left.
The punch line of this story is, not to rely on our strength and effort, but to rest and trust in the finished work. And more specifically, to rest and trust in the finished work of God for us.
The first 2 men trusted in their own strength and efforts to escape calamity, but could not. But the 3rd man trusted not in his own strength, but in the power and work of the lighted fire. He trusted that the completed work of the fire would save him. The fire did the work for him. The scorched field had undergone the fire for him and thus gave him his salvation.
Just as at creation we are first introduced to God’s principle that everything was prepared and man could not add anything to it, but could simply live in the rest. So again we see the same principle reflected in God’s plan of salvation.
Once again, God prepared everything. Jesus came to bear the punishment for us. He came, as it were, to become our ‘scorched field’. He endured horrible torture for our health, He endured horrible pain for our deliverance, and He endured horrible desolation for our reconciliation with God.
God prepared everything for our good. Yes indeed, for our salvation to become a child of God. But also for our continued walk on earth, just like the first man. But do we step into that “scorched field”?
To live a victorious life as a Christian, we must learn to stand in His rest and finished work. Not be tempted to rely on our own efforts and strength to get things done. He has made everything available for us to walk in. In Him there is wisdom at our disposal, in Him there is health at our disposal, and in Him the peace that surpasses all understanding is at our disposal. What a gift!
All we have to do is trust Him and obey Him. Hmm, sounds like a sheep and the shepherd….
The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing. He prepares the table for me.
Let us also step and stay in this life of completion by God this year.
Listen to this song.
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