Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
We have been considering the topic of prayer for several weeks, based upon the fact that “the prayers of all saints” ascend “before the throne” of God (Revelation 8:3-4). There is much more that I could write on this salient subject, but I will limit myself to one final thought. In verse 4, “the smoke of the incense” from the angel’s “golden censer” (verse 3) mingles with our prayers. In the Old Testament tabernacle and later in the Temple, new incense was placed in the Holy Place each morning and evening. The burning of this incense was thus continuous, twenty-four hours each day, and was synonymous with prayer. Psalm 141:2a, for example, says, “Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense.” Exodus 30:34-38 forbids the use of this incense – made of “sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, these sweet spices with pure frankincense” (verse 34) – for any other purpose. Certainly prayer is “sweet” to us, for it is an unburdening, a release of our weightiest concerns. The hymn “Sweet Hour of Prayer” well captures this truth. However, it is also true that “the prayers of all saints” are sweet to our Savior God, for He is the One Who likens them to incense. Yes, our sweet Savior finds our prayers to be sweet. What an incentive to “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17)!