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.)
The brief period of silence in the Tribulation period has spiritual application for God’s people today: “And when He had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour” (Revelation 8:1). The mere mention of this interlude tells us that Jesus places value on our silence, in keeping with other Biblical references. For example, God spoke directly to Joshua and said, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8). To the modern mind, with our emphasis on action and activity, such a gracious command can seem outdated and even onerous. Obviously, God knows what He is talking about, and He understands our needs. Certainly, there was no busier man in Israel than Joshua, who was both the military and the civil leader of the nation. He was responsible for planning and executing the conquest of the Promised Land, for the massive task of then settling the land, and for the continuing administration of protection and justice once the land was settled. Still, he was specifically told to be still each day. Only in this stillness before the Lord would he find clarity and stability. Our Savior ever persists in calling us to His best. Let us thus respond to our Lord with times of quiet meditation upon His goodness. No one is too busy to be still before Jesus.