Friday, February 8, 2013

Weaving Jesus




It will serve us well to make Jesus Himself the warp of our tapestry.  By our good habits, we will weave splendid tapestries in the monastery of the heart! 

Jesus is Majesty . . . so we are learning to live with Him as the KING that He is.  We practice every kind of good demonstration of our joy ... a good King reigns over us!  The King of Glory, no less!

Jesus is Savior . . . we never want to forget or get careless toward the salvation He bought at such a great price.  We sing of it!  We remember Him in our communion and in the Eucharist.  We take up the privilege of telling others what we know of His power to save, to heal, and to deliver.

Jesus is Friend . . . here is an area where we can make some defining changes that are both monastic and quite natural for those who believe in Him.  We spend time with Him, and we take decisive steps against the enemies of our souls who would destroy this friendship, if we let them.

Jesus is Lord . . . as much as we might talk with a friend as we walk along the way, and as pleasant as that can be, this Friend gives us instructions and corrections and assignments, and because we are fully able to hear and obey, we humble ourselves to listen.

Jesus is the Word of God . . . that’s a really crucial strand; we won’t have a strong and beautiful and lasting tapestry without it.  What can be known of God was revealed in Jesus, and what can be known of Jesus is written and preserved for us.  We open our Bibles and bow before the Person of Jesus, alive to us in Scripture, and we read and pray until His nature is formed in us.

Jesus is our Bridegroom . . . if there is a neglected aspect of Jesus’ true identity, this might be it.  One day there will be a Wedding Feast in heaven, and we are not just guests.   We are the Bride!  How does a young couple – how did we – behave when we were engaged to be married?  There are some clues for us in those memories.

Jesus is Redeemer . . . as certainly as He makes all things new, we begin to live in such a way that we expect that of Him and direct our prayers toward redemption for those we love and in every circumstance we face.

As each day unfolds, we will weave with choice strands of worship and prayer, of hope and joy, of study and obedience, of stillness and of friendship with God.  Certainly, our tapestry might now look a jumble and unfinished, but when we seek Him with our whole hearts, when we love as He loved, when we make sure of those things that take us where we want to go, the result will make heaven gasp, for the beauty revealed will be the loveliness of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Tapestry, Coventry Cathedral,
by permission, Steve Cadman

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