Heart Tracks - The Road

10“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11“I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” 12And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.” Mark 2:10-12......"There is a fresh urgency for elders and pastors and Sunday School teachers and worship team members to get up, every day, pick up their mats, and walk. always in the direction of home. That's church......A church will cease to be a church if the Word of Jesus is not preached. But a church will fail to become a church if the Word made flesh does not appear among us, and we touch Him, and see Him, and He us." Mark Buchanan

My heart and spirit are moved by this passage of Scripture and what Buchanan says about it. I think of all that can be seen in the modern church, and how much of what he speaks of is not seen at all. We are focused on so many things, presentation, atmosphere, appeal to the senses. Yet, is what Buchanan speaks of actually being lived out in the life of our fellowships? As I read his words, my mind was drawn to the book of Ruth. Naomi and her daughter-in-law are in Moab, far from their home in Judah. Their need was great, and there were many directions in which they could move, but Ruth 1:7 reads, "They took the road that would lead them back to Judah." Back to their home. For the true believer and follower of the King, there is only ever one road for us to take, one road upon which the travel. The one that leads to "home." The home, our home, that is His heart. We are, all of us, to get up, every day, pick up the mats of this world that have held us to it, and walk...in the direction of our home. To move always deeper into the presence and life of Jesus Christ. How would our fellowships be transformed if that, and not the other things were foremost in the minds of those He has called to lead, to teach, to worship? And we will find, as we stay to that road, that the Word made flesh will indeed appear among us. We will "see" Him, "touch" Him, and experience Him. He will manifest Himself in our midst, and in each other. We will no longer have to seek new ways to be appealing, because He will be appearing in and through us. All because our hearts are set upon traveling the road that leads us home....to Him.

What happens on this road is that the reality of sin in us is made clear, and the pathway to confession, repentance, and forgiveness is laid open. Healing of the heart, the mind, and the spirit takes place, and oftentimes, of the body as well. Christ is free, we are free, and the "mats" that have held us on the ground no longer control us. Christ, in us, has overcome them. They no longer define or confine us. The Word made flesh has set us free, and we are free now to manifest that truth to all who will hear it.

There are a lot of things going on in the church today, and we always seem to be looking for new ways to amaze, which oftentimes is just another form of entertainment. The show needs to be interrupted by the breaking through of His Holy Spirit. In a culture where our natural senses seem to have "seen it all," we need what few have ever truly experienced; the fullness of His glory upon His church. A glory that leaves our hearts burning for more, and a glory that no earthly prop can ever compare with.

Where is your "road" leading you to? To Him, or that which is not Him? To the Kingdom of Light, or the kingdom of darkness? To your home in Him, or a home that knows nothing of Him? Your mat will always keep you from that road that leads to Him, but He is before you, before us. He speaks His healing Word, and calls us to get up, leave the crippled life of being without Him, and in wholeness, walk His road with Him. Are you ready to do so, to take the road that leads home.... to Him?

Blessings,
Pastor O