Rope-A-Dope!!!

ROPE- A -DOPE!!!

First things first. More than worshipping God for the blessings, which He pours into our lives, we need to learn to worship Him, just for what He is! Worshipping Him, awed by His unique attributes is noblest form of worship, for it emanates right from the depths of the heart with no strings attached. Worship in its pristine form is nothing but an unalloyed form of an ethereal romance between the Creator and His favorite creation (Isaiah 62:5, Zephaniah 3:17). In this context, let it be said that the driving force for winning a soul to the Lord ought not to be only the need of saving it from scorching hell-fire but also to acquaint it, with the indescribable heavenly joys’ one is enjoying of walking aright with the Creator.

Ah focusing on one of his many sublime attributes…all along His life on Earth, was not our Saviour the very definition of balance? Be it in caring for both the spiritual and the physical needs of His enraptured audience (Matt 15:32-39) or be it in appreciating or rebuking Peter all in a matter of a few minutes (Matt 16:13-23) when it was needed or be it balancing the Law and Grace when it came to dealing with the adulterous woman (John 8:1-11) or for that matter in giving a balanced riposte on taxes to His critics’ (Mark 12:13-17), His demeanor oozed transcendent balance.

While there are several sublime qualities in our Saviour realization of which would evoke spontaneous worship, in this message I would like to focus on His singular genius in creating and maintaining oh-so-delicate balance in the natural as well as the spiritual realm.

An irresistible combo...

Cross bearing is an indispensable part of a Christian’s life (Luke 9:23), so that work of molding a person into a Christ-like image which begins at the point of re-generation is completed in all respects (2 Cor 3:18) by the time of Rapture or one’s departure from the Earthly scene.

What is a cross if it is not something “bothersome” which is “touching” my shoulders? Hey, I cannot say that I am bearing the Cross, if it is say a mile away!!! Remember for a Cross (synonymous with pain) to be carried, it necessarily has to be in touch with your being. There lies the key to understanding what Cross-bearing is all about. The surrounding “unavoidable” irksome circumstances, which one cannot get away from…in the place of education/employment/business or pain within the confines of relationships such as a marriage, parenthood, lure of Worldly attractions’ all around or an infirmity in one’s own body… all constitute a cross. Hallelujah, our God is not unfair in calling us to bear the Cross alone without placing the bubbling joy of the Holy Spirit at the same time within us, giving us the needed impetus, so to say, in our Christian sojourn!!! It is in this rarefied “atmospheric” balance of joy inside-pain outside that a Christian’s character gets built.

Ah speaking of atmosphere …gear up to bare your chest for bearing this “punch of truth”. Even as you are reading this message, do you know that your body is soaking up a close to 7 kgs’ per square inch of atmospheric pressure right now? So why doesn’t your body implode? It would, if not for a wondrous internal “blood pressure” from within that is balancing the External “Air” pressure all the time. Hmmm…a natural rope a dope (thanks Rumble in the Jungle)??? Well, well…God in His infinite wisdom who knew that nearly 5 quadrillion tones of air is needed to sustain all of life on earth, also knew that the same life-giving air without being “balanced” by blood pressure from within the living body, can kill it. Boy air-pressure and blood-pressure… one cannot live without the other, because conversely if the air-pressure is withdrawn, the human body would “rupture”, meaning life-sustaining blood (Lev 17:11) would at once ooze out. No wonder, astronauts wear a spacesuit which besides ensuring continuous oxygen supply also ensures that the same atmospheric pressure is exerted constantly on all of the astronaut’s body (which is so used to it) even in space where there is no air otherwise blood would simply “burst out” of his/hers veins and arteries.

So for Christians’ asking for “Cross” to be withdrawn is a very grievous sin, for it would mean we are asking for the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit also (life-blood of the Spiritual life). The Israelites in the wilderness journey learned this very painful lesson at a terrible cost (Psalm 106:15- KJV). Oh, I pray that none should experience virtually a type of Hell on Earth, which I endured for three months when I petulantly asked my Divine Guide to remove the Cross, some years ago in my Christian pilgrimage. Oh the heights of selfishness which consequently required very excruciating chastisement and cleansing (Mal 3:3)!!! Oh in hindsight, I am better-off after that “spanking” for it led to more spiritual “sparkling”, as all spankings invariably do (Psalm 119:71-72 TLB)!!!