The Eternal Rock Star

UV737/10,000 The Rock Star “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.” Isaiah 51 v 1 We need to spend time listening to the Lord every day. These are times we do not pray or read the Word but we remain still and listen to the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit. When we spend all our time chattering, we will miss sensing the presence of God and we will miss hearing what He speaks to us. Silence is certainly a spiritual discipline that shows we are comfortable just listening to the Lord. We need to listen to hear a word from God- a word telling us what He thinks of us, what direction He wants us to take and what He wants us to do. When we spend time at the feet of Jesus listening to Him as the disciples and the crowds in Jerusalem did, we would be greatly blessed. We will receive grace or strength to pursue righteousness. Pursuit of righteousness implies fleeing from wickedness and evil that is so rampant in the world. The Lord desires that our mouths, eyes and ears are pure. The pursuit of righteousness does not only mean we keep these amazing receptor and transmitter organs pure but we also need to make it available to God to use for His work and glory. Jesus is the Rock cut from Zion not by human hands but by the Lord God Himself. We in turn are cut from this Rock of faith. We are hewn from His quarry. We need to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and look to Jesus for help. Our help does not come from the mountains or high points or strongholds of human influence, wealth or power but our help comes from Jesus. He is the rock foundation on which we build the superstructure of our lives. When the storms and tempests of life strike the rock, we are not shaken or moved. We are moved only when we look and listen to the Lord. The cut of a diamond displays its intrinsic character or worth. Similarly, our life experiences will display our intrinsic character and worth to the people around. Just as a cut causes pain, our experiences will often cause immediate pain but ultimate gain. Our faith combined with our experiences and fruits of our character ensure that our lives are not lived in vain, that we do not remain misshapen rocks that lie idle in a quarry, of no use to those who look upon it, inspiring neither hope nor compassion. Our lives are not “all sound and fury, signifying nothing” as we are looking to Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith. Like a master sculptor, He begins the design of faith in our lives. He carves out niche by niche the intricate edges and finishes us as a sculptor would finish a masterpiece. But, since we are living stones and not passive objects, by our acts of active listening, empathic listening, appreciative listening, worshipful listening, grateful listening and by our focus and persistent looking to Jesus for guidance, for protection, for promotion, for provision and for leadership, we speed up the process of evolving our final shape and design. Some of the young people who have heard me or read of my work, send in feedback in their usual style, “ You rock!” but seldom do they realize what makes me rock is the Rock of ages- Jesus the Eternal Rock Star. Prateep V Philip