Since childhood, an
important part of New Year’s Day is watching the Rose Bowl Parade. Floats made
of flower petals and marching bands from across the country.
One of the things for which I bless God is the blessing of
marching in parades as part of junior high, high school, and college bands. To
be an active component of the group, one
needed to step off on the same foot as everyone else, and then stay
rhythmically in step with everyone else be it forty, ninety or three hundred.
Not only remaining “in step“ but also “in line.”
A well-practiced marching
band is made of straight lines from front to back and from side to side. Staying
in step means awareness of those before you from beginning to the person
directly in front of you. Keeping a row requires using one’s peripheral vision
to maintain a straight line from curb to curb. When marching perfectly
in line and row, with precise distance in each direction, the lines also create
perfect diagonals. A thing of geometric symmetry and beauty.
Walk out of the gates. Get going! Get the road ready for the people. Build the highway. Get at it! Clear the debris, hoist high a flag, a signal to all peoples! Yes!Godhas broadcast to all the world: “Tell daughter Zion, ‘Look! Your Savior comes, Ready to do what he said he’d do, prepared to complete what he promised.’”[4]
A parade has an exact
and designated path. The floats and bands are staged and move out in such a manner as to keep the procession moving past those who line the
streets from beginning to end. Being a part of the
cavalcade not only means marching in a band that follows the drum major,
but also being a part of a larger procession designed to not only to bless God but also to bless others by simply
taking one’s place. Just marching step by step
into the New Year and all it holds in store.
Lord, I praise you, I
honor and glorify your holy name. Thank you for your help already waiting for me in the New
Year. Help me know my place in the parade. Let me follow those who have served
you, not because of individual abilities
and gifts, but because they learned to be a part of the blessed and perfect band. Those in the scripture who are unnamed,
but crossed the Reed Sea on dry land because they trusted you. Those who
marched around Jericho, working together to complete your purpose. Help me walk
beside those who follow your Son, not because of what he can do, but because of
who he was, and is, and evermore shall be. Help me feel the rhythm, look
straight ahead, use my peripheral vision, and move forward with a precisely
consistent measured step. Help me step out and be a part of your parade.
When I was growing up, my mother brought food to the table
in bowls and on platters. We then gathered around the table and remained
standing behind our chairs while my father gave thanks for the food we were
about to receive.
While raising our children, food still came to the
table in bowls and on platter. Everyone carried something to the table,
chattering away about their day. We sat and took turns saying grace or choosing
the grace that would be offered by all.
During the Christmas holidays, our daughters served our
plates in the kitchen. When all the plates were on the table, we were called to
come and eat. I noticed that the younger children would begin to eat as soon as
they sat down.
When everyone
gathered around the table, the children set their utensils on their
plates, chewed and swallowed what was in their mouths, and raised their
hands if they wanted to help say grace.
Psalm 103:1 in action. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, let all
that is within me bless thy holy name.”
As our family grows and changes, I am convinced over and over again: God does not change. “But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to
everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children.”
Psalm 103:17.
John Wesley believed that God creates each human
“capable of God.” We carry within us a capability to know, love and
obey our creator. With that capability, we are inheritors of the “everlasting covenant of grace”
between God and Abraham.
This and all succeeding covenants are a means of grace for
all readers everywhere. The covenant is
mutual: we must walk before him in obedience and he will be our blessing. We, as descendants of this covenant, are
invited into a vibrant rapport with God. We are free to and expected to relate
intimately with God, and God for his part can always be counted on to
be there.
For us, Jesus is the shepherd and the gate to the
sheepfold. When we live in a way
consistent with the Lordship of Christ, we have direct access to God. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is
within me bless his Holy name.”
God's benefits still include forgiveness, health, redemption,
love, mercy and goodness. For our part, we only need to be faithful to remember
and do his commandments. Take the time to know him. Learn his commandments. Be willing to forgive others. Take the time required to accept God's forgiveness. Work at forgiving yourself.
When it seems that health is gone - cling to the health that obedience brings. Obedience to take medicine on time. Obedience to nap when energy is depleted. Obedience to exercise to increase endurance. Obedience to allow others to do things their way and to accept graciously the gift of "let me do that for you." Obedience to follow the doctor's recommendation not to get out in the cold, and especially the cold and wet. Obedience to do what you can. Obedience to forgive yourself.
Praise God for his redemption through Jesus Christ. Be thankful for his goodness and gift of the Holy Spirit. Lean on him. Find 10, 000, or even 10 reasons to Bless the Lord, O my soul. Write them down, so those who follow, generation after generation, can know them, too.
Published on May 17, 2012
Video copyright Youtube User ID bobf72450.
Bless The Lord O My Soul sung by Matt Redman. "Bless the Lord O My Soul" is a phrase reiterated from Psalms 103 and 104.
