Coffee With The Lord

Today’s “coffee with the Lord” post is about one of my very favorite passages in the Bible – Job 28. I read it again with relish today during my time of “coffee with the Lord!” Believe me, tt is a literary delight! This passage will be awesome for you if you are a visual learner and can imagine the scenes it describes… or you’re a person that loves to create visual and auditory experiences in film, photo and sound. So let your imagination run wild like an incredible high definition video. (In fact sometime, somewhere, I’d like to see a gifted creative team, including videographers, sound effects, and a great interpretive reader create a video of it!) Until then, however, I guess you’ll just have to use your imagination! So here goes…

“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine. Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore. Man puts an end to darkness and searches out to the farthest limit the ore in gloom and deep darkness. He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives; they are forgotten by travelers; they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro. As for the earth, out of it comes bread, but underneath it is turned up as by fire. Its stones are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold. That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon’s eye has not seen it. The proud beasts have not trodden it; the lion has not passed over it.

“Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots. He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

“BUT WHERE SHALL WISDOM BE FOUND? AND WHERE IS THE PLACE OF UNDERSTANDING? Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living. The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ It cannot be bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; THE PRICE OF WISDOM IS ABOVE PEARLS! THE TOPAZ OF ETHIOPIA CANNOT EQUAL IT, NOR CAN IT BE VALUED IN PURE GOLD!

“FROM WHERE, THEN, DOES WISDOM COME? AND WHERE IS THE PLACE OF UNDERSTANDING? It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air. Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

“GOD UNDERSTANDS THE WAY TO IT, AND HE KNOWS ITS PLACE! For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. When He gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure, when He made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder, THEN HE SAW IT AND DECLARED IT; HE ESTABLISHED IT, AND SEARCHED IT OUT. AND HE SAID TO MAN, ‘BEHOLD, THE FEAR OF THE LORD, THAT IS WISDOM, AND TO TURN AWAY FROM EVIL IS UNDERSTANDING!’ ” (Job 28 ESV)

Enough said, eh? Wow!!!

Good grooming and personal hygiene practices… Some of the things we do every morning “in the public interest” and our own personal sense of wellbeing…  A daily shower or bath, brushing our teeth, deodorant, cologne, fixing or combing our hair… Sometimes we do them with special care – at other times we do them simply because it has become our daily practice.

This morning, during my daily time of “coffee with the Lord” (a daily spiritual hygiene practice of mine) I was reminded of a daily practice by the Lord that I felt I needed to be more careful about as a part of my daily regimen of “spiritual hygiene!”  Truth is, I haven’t done it regularly!  Don’t get me wrong, I believe in its importance, but it took the Holy Spirit impressing it upon me this morning to dedicate myself to doing it with regularity.

Here’s what the Holy Spirit encouraged me to do as a part of my daily “spiritual hygiene” and grooming… I felt Him nudge me to quote two verses prayerfully and determine to do what they urge me to do…

“I now present my body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, as a spiritual act of worship!  I choose not be conformed to this world, but desire to be transformed by the renewing of my mind so that I can discern God’s will and do what is pleasing to Him!” (Romans 12:1-2 adapted for my daily time of devotions)

Hey, I’m not tell you that you need to do it… But I think I need to make it a part of my daily “spiritual hygiene!”  Since I’m convinced the Holy Spirit prompted me to personally do it, I’ll just let Him talk to you about whether or not you should make it a part of your daily “spiritual hygiene.”

To a generation that loves “easy” and “You’re pre-approved!” Jesus said something shocking about “the Kingdom of Heaven”…

“Enter by the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  But the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14 ESV)

Sure, Jesus paid the price for our salvation!  You cannot enter the “Kingdom of heaven” by buying your way in or working your way in!  It is a costly gift that Jesus Himself purchased by giving His very life!  But entering the Gate demands complete commitment, repentance (a change of mind and heart) and self-renunciation!  And once inside the door, nothing changes – it’s His will and way all the way to Heaven’s gates!  But the eternal benefits are out of this world!

That’s what caused me to pause this morning, reflect and write in the margin of my Bible… “LeRoy, never, never forget this!