The Feet of Jesus!

(James 4:10) “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

When I consider life and the beauty of creation I am swept away with memories of some of the exquisite places I have seen in my travels. Islands surrounded by the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the beauty of Cape Town with Table Mountain the backdrop to her splendour, the aridness of the Skeleton Coast and it's salt roads or the ruggedness of the Timbavati with its distinctive terrain and wild animals roaming free with the most amazing sunrise and sunset often on display. The list goes on and on, God is truly magnificent with creation through all the beauty we have the privilege to witness. It often motivates us to look for our next adventure and we put money aside so we can find a dream holiday in order to be one with nature. I even bought a 4x4 to help me with theses dreams. What and where would your dream holiday be? How much would it cost and could the poor afford the same luxury? Think of the families in their tin huts with barely enough food to get them through the week, they may dream of a getaway but without any real hope of ever accomplishing their desires.

But God who is rich in mercy has afforded all his children equal opportunity; both the rich and the poor, how so you may ask? As I was looking through some of God’s Word last night a wonderful realisation of the goodness of God refreshed my soul as I considered creation and all it beauty, my thoughts were then drawn from creation to the Lord Jesus and I began to contemplate some of His glorious attributes and finally a beautiful thought dawned on me and gripped my heart. I am thankful to God the Holy Spirit for moments like these; we should all search them out and cry to Him for continuous revelation about our Saviour.

I can honestly say without fear of any contradiction concludes that my dream holiday would not be a geographical location, what is now more appealing is who would be with me. I no longer have to wait for school holidays or a holiday season to accomplish my vision. Others have understood this lesson, but if we really understood the importance of these messages by the examples of other, through what they have taught us, we would live here. We wouldn’t have to spend so much time hankering after our next beautiful holiday.

So who then are the teachers that speak? The demon possessed man who was now in his right frame of mind, Jairus with his dying daughter, Mary the sister of Martha through the death of her brother Lazarus, Mary and her pound of ointment of pure nard, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary after Jesus had risen and finally what the angel instructed John not to do in the Book of revelation chapter 19:10.

They all understood the importance of the beauty of the feet of Jesus, there is nothing in all of creation that compares with the feet of Jesus. They understood this, they had not only seen Jesus and been with Him but they had the privilege of sitting at His feet and in each account they were all extremely blessed.

The demon possessed man had a legion of demons cast out of him; he no longer had to live in chains. Mary received her brother to life again, she was so thankful that her prize possession that she almost certainly use on her own body, the pound of ointment of nard, very costly, but the death and resurrection of her brother had caused her to give up her most prize possession, and with this she anointed the feet of Jesus, and, as a further token of her reverence for Him at her own expense, she wiped them with her hair, and everyone present were the benefactors as this sweet pleasant aroma filled the house. When we sit at the feet of Jesus others will also find blessing from our encounter. When Mary Magdalene and the same Mary encounter Jesus on their way back to tell the disciples that He was alive and that He no longer lay in the tomb where they had buried Him, His resurrection furnishes them with abundant matter for joy. How they now even more than ever before appreciate the feet of Jesus. How beautiful were the feet of the Lord Jesus to them, it must have taken an age for them to eventually let go, but when they did they found a spring in their step as the urgency must have pressed them hard to reach the disciples and bring them these good tidings. Jesus had risen from the dead, he was alive! We must not however bow down to men or even angels or any other form of idolatry. When the Apostle John was caught up into heaven and he saw the brilliance of an angel he fell to his knees at the feet of the angel, but was quickly instructed by him not to do it as an angel is messenger of God and a fellow servant with us. He directs him to the true and only object of religious worship; namely, God: “Worship God, and him alone.” It is only the Lord Jesus who has earned the right to demand our obedience in this area of our lives. Even creation has its traps, when we find ourselves admiring creation to the exclusion of our creator we enter the realm of idolatry.

May their examples spark within all of us an urgency at every opportune time to sit at the feet of Jesus, whatever your circumstance, wherever you may find yourself along this sometimes difficult journey along the celestial road toward the pearly gates of heaven, might we always remember the blessings to be found at the feet of Jesus. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

God the Holy Spirit may you write these truths deep within our hearts, may we resolve from this day forth to live at the feet of Jesus. Father we thank you for every blessing you bestow upon us as your children and all praise and honour belongs to Jesus Christ our saviour for laying down His life so selflessly accomplishing your will in every area of His life so that we may go free. All this we ask and pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and for your glory, Amen

Signing off

Tyrone