On the Anvil - Max Lucado [13]
What steps are you taking to protect your “possessions”? What measure are you using to ensure that your relationships are strong and healthy? What are you doing to solidify the bridges between you and those in your world?
Do you resolve conflict as soon as possible, or do you “let the sun go down when you are still angry”? Do you verbalize your love every day to your mate and children? Do you look for chances to forgive? Do you pray daily for those in your life? Do you count the lives of your family members and friends more important than your own?
Our Master knew the value of a relationship. It was through relationships that he changed the world. His movement thrived not on personality or power but on championing the value of a person. He built bridges and crossed them. Touching the leper . . . uniting the estranged . . . exalting the prostitute. And what was that he said about loving your neighbor as yourself?
It’s a wise man who values people above possessions. Many wealthy men have died paupers because they gave their lives to things and not to people. And many paupers have left this earth in contentment because they loved their neighbors.
“My most valued possession is my buddy.”
What is your most valued possession?
How would you describe your relationships?
Describe your most important relationship—the one with God.
22: No More Curtain!
The annual event always drew a crowd. The priest would solemnly ascend the temple steps, bearing the blood of the sacrifice. As the people waited outside, he would pass through the great curtain and enter the Holy of Holies. He would sprinkle the mercy seat above the ark and pray that the blood would appease God. The sins would be rolled back. And the people would sigh with relief.
A great curtain hung as a reminder of the distance between God and man. It was like a deep chasm that no one could bridge. Man on his island . . . quarantined because of sin.
God could have left it like that. He could have left the people isolated. He could have washed his hands of the whole mess. He could have turned back, tossed in the towel, and started over on another planet. He could have, you know.
But he didn’t.
God himself bridged the chasm. In the darkness of an eclipsed sun, he and a lamb stood in the Holy of Holies. He laid the lamb on the altar. Not the lamb of a priest or a Jew or a shepherd but the Lamb of God. The angels hushed as the blood of the Sufficient Sacrifice began to fall on the golden altar. Where had dropped the blood of lambs, now dripped the blood of life.
“Behold the Lamb of God.”
And then it happened. God turned and looked one last time at the curtain.
“No more.” And it was torn . . . from top to bottom. Ripped in two.
“No more!”
“No more curtain!”
“No more sacrifices!”
“No more separation!”
And the sun came out.
Is there any way in which you are still living at a distance from God?
What is your attitude toward your sin? Do you think you have to appease God? Do you think you can?
Do you take the Lamb’s sacrifice for granted?
23: Have You Seen Jesus?
One of the most dramatic scenes in the New Testament occurred in a city known as Caesarea Philippi. One would be hard-pressed to find a city with more elaborate religious significance than this one.
At least fourteen temples to Baal dotted the community. The Greeks heralded Caesarea Philippi as the home of the great god Pan, the god of nature. Jewish people pointed to the area around Caesarea Philippi as the source of the Jordan River; the significance of the Jordan River to the Jew was immeasurable. The might of Rome was glorified in a glistening marble temple erected in honor of Caesar. In Caesarea Philippi the Romans celebrated Caesar as divine and Rome as holy.
It must have been some city. Every significant nation and religion of the day was seen here: Syrians, Jews, Greeks, Romans. No modern metropolis can compare with Caesarea Philippi.
It was indeed a dramatic picture. In the midst of this carnival of marble columns and golden idols, a