By David Hobbs
Psalm 49:8—The ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough
I always knew it was great to be saved, and salvation showed that God had personal care over my soul. But I never realized how much was involved until years later writing it down in my book Out of the Fire. Delving back into it has opened up the whole, wonderful world of all that happened that I never realized. One thing that really stands out is the chapter “Song in a Thunderstorm” (page 262). It was the watershed moment on my spiritual journey.
What is a watershed?
In the mountains, everything is sloped up or down. Other than that, it can all look pretty much the same. But there is this thing called a “watershed.” A watershed is an area, and it can be quite large (probably 1/3 of the United States lies within the watershed of the Mississippi River!). Within this area--though there are hills and valleys, ridges and ravines-- everything flows down to the river that drains the watershed. No matter where you start within the watershed, if you flow downhill you will end up at the mouth of the river. There is an inexorable pull that takes everything to the same place.
Yet while up in the highlands it is possible to cross over into a different watershed that will take you to a totally different destination. Sometimes in the highlands, just crossing a slight ridge is enough to rewrite the story of your destination!
As humans living here on the earth, we are born into a watershed that will take us eventually and inevitably to the river of death and then on into the netherworld of destruction and eternal damnation. No matter how well we do in life—the riches we amass, the honor we receive, the power we exercise—there is no escaping the pull of the earthly watershed we are in. It will take us--along with everyone else who may not do so well in life, even to the beggar in the river bottoms--to that same river of death and the same eternal destiny. “[I]t is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…" (Heb. 9:27 NKJV). "For in Your sight no one living is righteous " (Psalm 143:2 NKJV).” That’s the teaching of the Bible.
But in Christ there is another watershed! That’s the Good News! And it’s possible to cross over to it, that which will take us to a totally different destination—eternal life with Christ!
On that fateful trip on I-5 from Redding to Yreka that spring afternoon in 1974, I was traveling up the Sacramento River watershed that eventually drains the whole northern part of California’s Central Valley into San Francisco Bay. But as I traveled up the river valley to Dunsmuir, up the mountain to the town of Mt. Shasta, and then over to Weed, I crossed over to the Klamath River drainage that bisects 100 miles of mountains before flowing into the Pacific Ocean just south of Oregon.
But that was only a picture of the real “crossing over” that was going on. In that fateful crash of lightning in the heart of the storm that illuminated my whole life and its total failure, a song burst forth spontaneously from my lips, a gospel song I had never sung before. As I belted it out with inexplicable fervor, I crossed over spiritually into another watershed, a watershed that would take me only a week later to meeting born-again Mike Harris and into his orb: first bunking alongside him, then hearing his testimony, listening to his tapes, getting a Bible, praying, seeing the miracles… a whole cycle that led to my salvation by the end of the summer and a new life in Christ.
Though I wouldn’t get saved for another couple of months, that trip was the watershed moment of my life. As I came down out of the mountains to the high desert around Gazelle, the clouds of the storm broke, the sun came out, and I’m sure the angels were blowing the trumpets of God, ushering me into the new, heavenly watershed that would leave death and destruction far behind. Now in this new watershed, I would shortly “come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” I would “come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.” I would “come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel" [back in the earthly watershed] (Heb. 12:22-24).
What a wonderful process God used to save me! That’s why I had to write this book. But I’m convinced God uses similarly wonderful processes to save everyone He has saved. If you are saved, meditate on the process of your own salvation. Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate it for you. It will give you a whole new appreciation for God’s love for you and all He was willing to do to effect your salvation. It starts at the cross, where God abandoned His own beloved Son Jesus so He would never have to abandon us; where He let Jesus “by the grace of God … taste
death for everyone" (Heb.2:9), so we would never have to die. But then it culminates in the wonderful process He used to draw you to Himself, which is utterly unique for every person.
If you are not yet saved, ask God to effect your salvation in the way He has chosen for you. Commit yourself to Him through the process by
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God (Prov. 2:2-5).
Me at "The Log Pile of Salvation"
What is a watershed?
In the mountains, everything is sloped up or down. Other than that, it can all look pretty much the same. But there is this thing called a “watershed.” A watershed is an area, and it can be quite large (probably 1/3 of the United States lies within the watershed of the Mississippi River!). Within this area--though there are hills and valleys, ridges and ravines-- everything flows down to the river that drains the watershed. No matter where you start within the watershed, if you flow downhill you will end up at the mouth of the river. There is an inexorable pull that takes everything to the same place.
Yet while up in the highlands it is possible to cross over into a different watershed that will take you to a totally different destination. Sometimes in the highlands, just crossing a slight ridge is enough to rewrite the story of your destination!
As humans living here on the earth, we are born into a watershed that will take us eventually and inevitably to the river of death and then on into the netherworld of destruction and eternal damnation. No matter how well we do in life—the riches we amass, the honor we receive, the power we exercise—there is no escaping the pull of the earthly watershed we are in. It will take us--along with everyone else who may not do so well in life, even to the beggar in the river bottoms--to that same river of death and the same eternal destiny. “[I]t is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…" (Heb. 9:27 NKJV). "For in Your sight no one living is righteous " (Psalm 143:2 NKJV).” That’s the teaching of the Bible.
But in Christ there is another watershed! That’s the Good News! And it’s possible to cross over to it, that which will take us to a totally different destination—eternal life with Christ!
On that fateful trip on I-5 from Redding to Yreka that spring afternoon in 1974, I was traveling up the Sacramento River watershed that eventually drains the whole northern part of California’s Central Valley into San Francisco Bay. But as I traveled up the river valley to Dunsmuir, up the mountain to the town of Mt. Shasta, and then over to Weed, I crossed over to the Klamath River drainage that bisects 100 miles of mountains before flowing into the Pacific Ocean just south of Oregon.
But that was only a picture of the real “crossing over” that was going on. In that fateful crash of lightning in the heart of the storm that illuminated my whole life and its total failure, a song burst forth spontaneously from my lips, a gospel song I had never sung before. As I belted it out with inexplicable fervor, I crossed over spiritually into another watershed, a watershed that would take me only a week later to meeting born-again Mike Harris and into his orb: first bunking alongside him, then hearing his testimony, listening to his tapes, getting a Bible, praying, seeing the miracles… a whole cycle that led to my salvation by the end of the summer and a new life in Christ.
Though I wouldn’t get saved for another couple of months, that trip was the watershed moment of my life. As I came down out of the mountains to the high desert around Gazelle, the clouds of the storm broke, the sun came out, and I’m sure the angels were blowing the trumpets of God, ushering me into the new, heavenly watershed that would leave death and destruction far behind. Now in this new watershed, I would shortly “come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” I would “come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.” I would “come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel" [back in the earthly watershed] (Heb. 12:22-24).
What a wonderful process God used to save me! That’s why I had to write this book. But I’m convinced God uses similarly wonderful processes to save everyone He has saved. If you are saved, meditate on the process of your own salvation. Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate it for you. It will give you a whole new appreciation for God’s love for you and all He was willing to do to effect your salvation. It starts at the cross, where God abandoned His own beloved Son Jesus so He would never have to abandon us; where He let Jesus “by the grace of God … taste
death for everyone" (Heb.2:9), so we would never have to die. But then it culminates in the wonderful process He used to draw you to Himself, which is utterly unique for every person.If you are not yet saved, ask God to effect your salvation in the way He has chosen for you. Commit yourself to Him through the process by
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
3 indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God (Prov. 2:2-5).
Me at "The Log Pile of Salvation"
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment