To rise is a phrase that speaks to life.
Visit a hot air balloon festival. We’ll have to arrive early in the morning, often as dawn is breaking across the horizon. Dozens, or sometimes hundreds of balloons are spread across the ground, deflated, lifeless, and in seeming disarray.
Then the fires ignite. Torches of flame, with massive blowers shooting out heat, begin to fill the balloons with life. The massive swaths of material billow and swirl, rising here, then rising there. It takes a while for them to gather any real shape, but eventually these massive constructions begin to rise into the sky, triumphant in the darkness, and glowing in the early morning light.
Soon, they will lift into the air, soaring into the sky, beautiful beyond all compare.
That’s what the Son of God does for us. He comes to us, ignites something in us, and slowly, so slowly, we begin to take the shape of his foretold design. We shift and swirl, swelling here, then swelling there, not truly what we will be for a long time. Then, one day, people can recognize us for what we are: a creation of Christ, shaped in his image, and beautiful to behold.
Matthew 12:40 tells us:
“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Jesus was 30 years old before he began his ministry. It took 3 days for him to return from the dead. If the Son of God took this long, we need to be patient with our fellow Christians as God shapes them into what he wants them to be.
And it is up to God. He’s the one who has the torches of his life-giving fire under control. He’s the one pumping his life into us, bringing us into his fullness, and lifting us from the darkness.
Revelation 3:14 gives all power unto him:
“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.’ ”
The important part of this verse is found at the end, “…the beginning of God’s creation.”
Each person who accepts Christ into his or her life is “…the beginning of God’s creation.” Let the fires ignite! Something beautiful is about to lift into the sky!
When God breathes life into us, we will be lifted heavenward, drawing towards him.
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Previously Published on 3-05-16 in Hope