I woke up this morning to the sound of a voice so aggressively awake, clear and hilarious, that one immediately knew that it had to be recorded yesterday. No one could possibly sound like that 5.15 in the morning! It was the radio, of course.
I felt like please, no, it´s the middle of the night! Somehow I managed to get my feet on the floor and rise, but my mood didn´t. Johnny Cash sings that he stumbled down the stairs to greet the day. I stumbled down the stairs and greeted the cat, which also seemed to be insultingly fresh, just like that annoying voice upstairs.
Well, we had some breakfast, my wife left for work, and I began thinking through my own day, what I have to do today, and in which order I should do it. Eventually I even had the sense to pray! By then my mood was already rising, and when I realized I would have the opportunity to study the Scriptures and pray together with my friends down in Overmark in the evening, I really got on the track! This is something I mostly – not always, but mostly – look forward to with great expectations! It´s like eating and drinking to me!
Being ”under the anointing”, in God´s presence, is the most wonderful thing we can experience in this life! The feeling of being carried and empowered by Someone so much greater, so totally omnipotent, and yet so loving, so caring, so close, to feel the warmth,the easyness in having the words you need just coming to you, the love for your fellow believers flowing through you, the freedom in knowing this is God´s work, not mine – I´m just thankful for being allowed to go with Him and watch what He is doing – it´s just incredible!
It hasn´t always been like this in my life, you know.
I wasn´t exactly what you call a happy, whole, free, mature human being on the evening when Jesus found me.
When I got saved, to me it meant entering something totally new and different, a life where I slowly started to find myself, find my way, little by little become what God had intended me to be, and all along that new road I found life gradually becoming easier, fuller, more worth living!
Not as it has always been steadily going upwards, there have been ups and downs, of course, but the main trend is clear: it´s been getting better for 41 years!
When I was young I sometimes listened to Uriah Heep´s music.
One of their greatest hists was called ”Easy Living”.
Back then I never got around to really listen to the lyrics, and if I had I would probably not have understood what they were singing about, as I wasn´t yet saved then.
The song was written by one of the band members after he had met Jesus and become a Christian, and the lyrics goes like this:
”This is a thing I´ve never known before, it´s called easy living
This is a place I´ve never seen before, and I´ve been forgiven
Easy living, and I´ve been forgiven
since You´ve taken Your place in my heart
Somewhere along the lonely road I had tried to find You
Day after day on that windy road I had walked behind You
Easy living, and I´ve been forgiven
since You´ve taken Your place in my heart…
Today I can identify with it. This is what I feel right now, eight o´clock Wednesday morning.
I´ve been forgiven, Jesus lives in me, and this is life, easy living, living with a capital L!
Thank you, Jesus, and glory to God!