music moves me. it gives rhythm to my life and life to my
spirit. it comforts me when i’m hurting
and fills me with joy and gladness in the good times. it encourages me, strengthens me, and upholds
me. many times i move to the music in my
head even when no one else can hear it, or am constantly singing even when no
one else is around.
today i stood on the beach and
worshipped. this morning i lay on my bed
and worshipped. the other night i went to a
youth revival service and watched dancers and flag-bearers and worshipped. the other day i rode a bus and popped my
headphones in my ears when i didn’t want to listen to the movie, and i
worshipped. i can ride in the back of a
pickup and sing at the top of my lungs and no one hears me. i can sing quietly when i’m taking a shower
or walking to eat breakfast, and i can know that the One i am worshipping can
hear me and nothing else really matters.
when we were in panama, i was shuffling
through my music and came across the following song by kutless: it’s called
“take me in” and it’s the first song in a while that has had the
ability to completely take me in to God’s presence. if you don’t have the song, just read through
the lyrics, but if you have it, go listen and then come back and finish
reading.
take
me past the outer courts
into
the holy place
past
the brazen altar
Lord,
i want to see your face
pass
me by the crowds of people
the
priests who sing your praise
i
hunger and thirst for your righteousness
but
it’s only found one place
take
me in to the holy of holies
take
me in by the blood of the Lamb
take
me in to the holy of holies
take
the coal, touch my lips, here i am
God has made me a very visual person, and
so when i heard these words last week i started getting images in my head.
i picture the outer courts and how that’s
the area that Jesus drove money-changers out of when He was on earth, how they
were probably crowded with anyone and everyone who wanted to come visit the
temple…kind of like the entrance area of a church today that is cluttered
with information booths or coffee stands or kids running around and screaming
and an area that, while still part of the church building, is more full of
chaos than the spirit of peace. i pass
through this area, knowing that God is
hear but desiring the intimacy that can only come from being in the
“secret place” with Him.
i picture the altars that are described
all throughout the old testament – how they’re made of gold or silver or bronze
and their dimensions are large enough to fill a whole room. i see the altar of gold (“altar de
oro”) in a church in panama and how it’s turned in to an idol that is
worshipped more than the God whom it is for. i picture the altars of rocks, piled in various places across the desert
whenever God showed up and the israelites trusted Him enough to do something
big. i pass the altars, because even
though they’re magnificent and they pay tribute to my Savior, they’re not what
i’m looking for.
in my mind i walk through the crowds of
people in the temple, through sweaty people in long robes like in bible-times,
through people that we’ve met all over the world in their different church
settings, through mega-churches back home, through my family and my groups of
friends…i pass by them, knowing that it is not them i am there to please but
instead there is One waiting for me behind closed-doors ready to reveal Himself
to me.
i picture myself just crawling in to His
presence, so hungry and thirsty for Him that i can’t stand on my own any
more. i enter in to the “holy of
holies,” the place that in the old temple was reserved for the high priest
to go in once a year, the place where the glory of God dwelt…knowing that i
can go in to His presence every day like that if i so desire, knowing that He
calls me in to intimacy with Him and loves that I enter the holy of holies, the
place where the Most High God dwells.
i can enter there because of His blood,
because of the sacrifice He gave for me on the cross. i picture Him dying, His hands and feet being
nailed down and me holding the hammer because He’s doing it for me. i picture my hands being nailed down with
Him, me suffering alongside Him so that i can understand what He suffered. I see His blood running down and know that my
life can never be the same because of the blood that was shed for me.
i pray for Him to take me in, to draw me
so deeply in to His presence that i am not aware of anything else. i stand before Him like the prophet isaiah,
saying “i will go for you, send me.” i want Him to touch my lips with the coal from the fire, so that the
words that come out of my mouth are solely from Him and only what He wants to
say through me. i am standing up, ready
to serve Him and to go wherever He wants me to go.
take
me in, Lord. here i am.
