Romans 14:6-12 Psalm 61:1-8 Hebrews 12:2
Like the first verse of Hymn 297, “Ring out the old, ring in the new; Ring happy bells across the snow. The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true,” we sent away the old year and received the 1st day of the New Year. In this hopeful year of 2015, I sincerely hope that we live or die for Jesus just like it is written in Rom 14:6-8, “Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
I. Let us move only toward Jesus who is our refuge, the High Rock.
We can see from Ps 61:2 that the Psalmist is praying “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” The “rock that is higher than I” refers to Jesus Christ who is the Hope and the eternal milestone of our lives. Here, “higher” denotes high value and status. Apostle Paul referred to this as “above” in Col 3:1. ”Set your hearts on things above and not consider something underneath” denotes the life that only looks upon and moves toward Jesus who is the High Rock. A song writer, J. Oatman was inspired by Col 3:1 and wrote the lyrics of Hymn 543, “I’m pressing on the upward way, new heights I’m gaining every day.” The writer of the Book of Hebrews also said in Heb 12:2 “fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” All of this is praising about the life that looks upon Jesus Christ who is the coordinates and the ultimate purpose of our lives. This prayer of “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,” denotes the endless processions of the faithful believers. Faith is not something that remains stationary, but it denotes continued growth and advancements. That is why we can continuously grow even with our problems, when we fix eyes our eyes on Jesus who is the Rock higher than we. This also expresses the faith of the pilgrims who continuously moved toward the Heavenly City until the Lord told them “you may rest now.” This conveys the meaning of “make most of your time.” Because time passes by, we need to make most of our time that is allotted to us and not let it go to waste. That is why he is urging us to move forward continuously without stopping. Those who want to settle down in their current situations while the time passes by will have no choice but to encounter a downfall. Those who develop and grow are those who always looked ahead and looked upon the higher dimensions of the world and continued to move forward. Isn’t that why the 5th verse of Hymn 543 says, “My Lord I will follow till I stand. Erect upon that lofty land; and blest forever sing His grace, who led and set me in this place?” The life of the Christians is nothing but advancement. Like it is written in Php 3:14, we are pressing on toward the goal. Through Jesus Christ, God called us and allowed us to live in higher place. Reaching there is the purpose of our lives and the reward that we long for.
Like the first verse of Hymn 297, “Ring out the old, ring in the new; Ring happy bells across the snow. The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true,” we sent away the old year and received the 1st day of the New Year. In this hopeful year of 2015, I sincerely hope that we live or die for Jesus just like it is written in Rom 14:6-8, “Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
I. Let us move only toward Jesus who is our refuge, the High Rock.
We can see from Ps 61:2 that the Psalmist is praying “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” The “rock that is higher than I” refers to Jesus Christ who is the Hope and the eternal milestone of our lives. Here, “higher” denotes high value and status. Apostle Paul referred to this as “above” in Col 3:1. ”Set your hearts on things above and not consider something underneath” denotes the life that only looks upon and moves toward Jesus who is the High Rock. A song writer, J. Oatman was inspired by Col 3:1 and wrote the lyrics of Hymn 543, “I’m pressing on the upward way, new heights I’m gaining every day.” The writer of the Book of Hebrews also said in Heb 12:2 “fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” All of this is praising about the life that looks upon Jesus Christ who is the coordinates and the ultimate purpose of our lives. This prayer of “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,” denotes the endless processions of the faithful believers. Faith is not something that remains stationary, but it denotes continued growth and advancements. That is why we can continuously grow even with our problems, when we fix eyes our eyes on Jesus who is the Rock higher than we. This also expresses the faith of the pilgrims who continuously moved toward the Heavenly City until the Lord told them “you may rest now.” This conveys the meaning of “make most of your time.” Because time passes by, we need to make most of our time that is allotted to us and not let it go to waste. That is why he is urging us to move forward continuously without stopping. Those who want to settle down in their current situations while the time passes by will have no choice but to encounter a downfall. Those who develop and grow are those who always looked ahead and looked upon the higher dimensions of the world and continued to move forward. Isn’t that why the 5th verse of Hymn 543 says, “My Lord I will follow till I stand. Erect upon that lofty land; and blest forever sing His grace, who led and set me in this place?” The life of the Christians is nothing but advancement. Like it is written in Php 3:14, we are pressing on toward the goal. Through Jesus Christ, God called us and allowed us to live in higher place. Reaching there is the purpose of our lives and the reward that we long for.
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