Journal: A spiritual secret (gain some weight!)

Got on the scales last night.  I was feeling heavy.  It was worse than a mere feeling, however, I WAS heavy.  Way over weight.  Perhaps I should have counted my blessings. 

Spiritually, we could stand to add a few pounds.  And maybe more than a few.  David writes about this in Psalm 39.  “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end…”  And here come the ‘light-weight’ terminologies:

• Fleeting
• Mere handbreadth
• Nothing
• Breath
• Phantom
•  Vain
  

In fact, that word hebel is the same word announced in Ecclesiastes of Solomon’s pitiful life (“Meaningless (hebel), meaningless, (hebel) utterly meaningless (hebel)!  Everything is meaningless (hebel).  Vanity, empty, phantom...Solomon needs some weight gain!

Reminded me of Paul’s writings to the churches in Ephesus, Colossae, Thessalonica, and Philippi when he tells them to, for instance, “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”  (Philippians 1:27)  The word there is axios – which means “same weight as” – the word picture is those scales with a bunch of weight on one side and my hebel life on the other.    

Live a life worthy?  How do you do that?  Here’s Paul - the weight of my life should be comparable to the calling I have received (Ephesians) or the gospel of Christ (Philippians) or the Lord Himself (Colossians) or of God, the kingdom of God, your calling (Thessalonians). 

That is a lot of weight!

How to pack on that much heft?  Here’s the good news.  The word “glory” in the Old Testament has a root (kabod) that means “heavy.”  In other words, the glory of God makes “same weight as/in a matter worthy” possible.  We CAN tip the spiritual scales, with His glory in us!

E. Stanley Jones talks about being “gloriously converted” in Baltimore.  Gloriously converted…is there any other way to be saved?

“Lord, make me heavy today.  Heavy with your glory.  Amen.”