CONSECRATED TO GOD

 

I offer this as a way of hope to anyone who is struggling with any level of obedience…..

One year as I studied the Old Testament I became fascinated with the rituals of animal sacrifice performed by ancient Israel. I looked at it in depth to satisfy my fascination but I did not expect it to take my understanding of the Atonement to the next level. I am still learning about this unfathomable sacrifice of Christ which is beyond our mortal understanding but the knowledge I have so far obtained has aided me, beyond my expectation, in living the gospel.

My greatest fascination with animal sacrifice was with the practice of applying the sacrificial blood of the animal, by the priest, to the right ear, right thumb and right toe of the person that was to be consecrated to God. These three parts of the body represented hearing the word of God, acting according to it and walking in His paths according to His commandments, that thereby the consecrated person might be sanctified through the power of the Atonement (see Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 1:2:387-88 as quoted by the Old Testament Student Manual). Learning of the significance of applying the sacrificial blood to the person for the purposes of sanctification and consecration had a great impact on me. I incorporated the practice of consecrating myself to God, through thought, word and deed, in my morning prayers. As I did so, the image of the priest applying the sacrificial blood to ear, thumb and toe would come into my mind to accompany my words.  This practice of daily consecration was something that strengthened my resolve to obey the command of ‘practicing virtue and holiness before God continually’ (D&C 46:33) and my obedience improved dramatically. A weakness that had troubled me for a long time was turned into a strength and a stumbling block removed from my path.  

And here is something interesting: the lamb offered in sacrificial rituals represented Christ as the sacrifice for humanity, the priest represented Christ as the Mediator and the person who offered the lamb for the sacrifice represented Christ standing in for others not being able to pay for justice of sin. These are the three roles He undertook during the Atonement: the sacrifice, the mediator and the substitute  (Jukes, Law of the Offerings, pp 44-45 as quoted in the Old Testament Student Manual p 160). The entire ritual of sacrificing just one animal emulated the propitiation of Christ in every way, in its entirety (1 John 2:2; 4:10).

I hope when we are brought before the God of our salvation on judgment day and He views us with an all-searching eye (2 N 9:44) that we will be found consecrated to Him in every thought, word, and deed, walking in holiness and virtue before Him and because of it, our confidence will wax strong in His presence (D&C 121:45) and we will confidently walk into His arms to remain there forever…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Lamb by Stephen Sawyer)

THE PATH TO PERFECTION

 

“Whoever said that sin was not fun? Whoever claimed that Lucifer was not handsome, persuasive, easy, friendly? Sin is attractive and desirable…..Sin is easy and has a big company of pleasant companions. It promises immunity from restrictions and offers temporary freedoms. It can momentarily satisfy hunger, thirst, desire, urges, passions, wants, without immediately paying the price. But, it begins and grows to monumental proportions – drop by drop, inch by inch.” (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p 229)

I recently saw a superb video by a Christian man that supports this statement perfectly. He claimed that Satan always offers us something good to distract us from something great that God can give us. It is only after our acceptance of the good that in time we come to see what we have chosen is bad, because nothing good comes of the adversary. Satan is the master of counterfeit blessings which only discernment and wisdom of good choices can counteract. He is the king of deception. He is a thief, here to kill, steal and destroy, therefore, whatever he offers cannot possibly have a good ending (John 10:10). He does not only want your life but your soul.

This life is not for the faint hearted. Resisting short term happiness and the ease of this life and choosing the refining fire of God that will in the end cast us in His image shows the integrity of heart some of us have brought with us. Those who have this integrity have long ago chosen Christ’s path to everlasting greatness of immortality. What Christ offers is perfection as opposed to Satan’s destruction. Consider Apostle Paul’s take on this (1 Corinthians 15:42-44):

We were born into:         We are raised to:             Immortality makes us:

Corruption                       Incorruption                    Indestructible

Dishonour                       Glory                               Glorified

Weakness                         Power                              Powerful

The Atonement and Resurrection of Christ brings about perfection of the righteous which is ‘the great gift’ that outstrips ‘the good gift’ that comes from the enemy of all righteousness. To this the Saviour testified when He said that He came so that we might have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). I bow before His sacrifice that makes my path to perfection and eternal life possible. His is the honour and glory and eternal flame of righteousness that burns forever…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

 

DANIEL IN BABYLON

 

Never before has Daniel’s life touched me to the core. As I finished my study of his life this year, I wept when I read of the Saviour’s appearance to him who greeted him thus: “O Daniel, a man greatly beloved” (Daniel 10:11). And not only Christ but also Michael who greeted him: “Oh man greatly beloved” (Daniel 10:19 and Gabriel who came to teach him and who told him: “I am come…for thou art greatly beloved” (Daniel 9:23).

 

When we talk of Daniel we almost always focus on his survival in the lions’ den. Daniel was only a youth when he was taken to Babylon in 605 B.C., during the first siege of Jerusalem.  He was trained there for service in the king’s court. Through his righteous influence he rose to the status of incredible power becoming an advisor to five kings and the governor of all the Jews in Babylonia’s exile. He was a prophet of God and a companion of kings. 

 

At the beginning of this year I read extensively about ancient Babylon and I was amazed at its grandeur and its corruption. I wondered how it was possible for a stalwart Israelite to live in such an environment and stay true to one’s faith. This is what Daniel taught me…..it is possible to survive Babylon…..and to even rise above it, if you have a connection with the God of Heaven. Consider just a few words of his worshipful prayer that testifies of this: “I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might……blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his….he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding……” (Daniel 2:20-23). Is it any wonder that the Saviour told him he was beloved; that He gave Him wisdom to interpret dreams; that He showed Him visions to the end of times; that He sent him angels to teach him? This connection with heaven was how Daniel survived Babylon the Great…..

 

We are living in spiritual Babylon today. We, members of Christ’s Church, are Israel, the royal priesthood, a peculiar treasure of the living God (1 Peter 2:9; Exodus 19:5). We are Israel, the chosen, not because of our superiority, but because of our willingness to believe in the Son of God. We are, therefore, harnessed with Him in the work of the redemptive power of salvation. We can survive Babylon and we can be of such righteous influence whilst in it that those around us will call us “servants of the living God”, even as King Darius called the beloved Daniel (6:20). And may we who center ourselves on Christ receive His approbation and hear Him say to us, even as He said to Daniel of old: “thou art greatly beloved”……

 

ODE TO DANIEL

Your spirit bears me up

On wings of faith and

I stand as a witness of

Thy holy name.

I fear not the height

Nor the depth

As I sail dangerous seas

Never mindful of the waves

That in the end bring me to Thee.

 

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: God of Heaven and Earth by Annie Henrie Nader)

THE FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATER

 

Christ was born to lift the lowliest of us to heights unknown. Consider the woman of Samaria whom Christ encountered at Jacob’s well (John 4:1-42). An encounter not by chance…..When all of Jewry chose to travel an indirect and longer route from Judea to Galilee rather than go through Samaria because they hated the Samaritans due to their mixed blood, Jesus chose to travel the direct route and sat himself down at Jacob's well at noon having sent his disciples to procure provisions. For a Jewish man to speak to a Samaritan woman in public would have been unheard of. 

 

The Saviour knew well the woman who came to draw water from the well. He knew that she had had five husbands and was now living with a man who was not her husband. This was a fallen woman who chose to come to the well in the heat of the day rather than the cool of the morning when it was the custom for women to gather and enjoy social interaction. The timing of her visit to the well emphasized her despised and outcast position. In general Jewish men didn't speak to women much in public, especially not to ones of ill repute. 

 

The Saviour came to heal the sick and bind the broken hearted (Isaiah 61:1; D&C 138:42). He did not minister to those who were well and rejected Him in the pride of their hearts. This is why He mixed with the publicans and the sinners. How better could He have demonstrated the power He had to lift us to eternal life? When I think of the Samaritan woman and consider His important message, I also see through my 21st century view the Saviour sending a message to the women of our day, a message of healing and hope. A great number of women today feel fragmented and damaged  having been divorced, widowed, abandoned or simply ignored by the opposite sex. Among the damaged are women who have been embroiled in sin, abused and enslaved in oppression. Perhaps they are all depicted in this Samaritan woman. She is the symbol of the downtrodden and the lowliest of us who can qualify for eternal life if we are but willing to accept the God in the babe of Bethlehem. 

 

In this modern world where so much suffering abounds, some of us are barely keeping our heads above the water and some of us are scraping up sludge of dry wells.   In all our suffering and stumbling in the dark we tend to turn to the ways of the world to fill us up. Sometimes we get so blinded by the glare of this world that we dive headlong into Jacob's well eager to assuage our thirst with that which does not satisfy, benefit or fulfill us. We seek for the corruptible things of this earth that have no lasting power to fill our cracks, heal our sorrows and make up for our lack. 

 

Drawing water from a well was a thankless and miserable daily burden designated to women. The water the Samaritan woman drew out of the well was dead heavy water of this earth, much like the burdens and cares of this world. The Saviour offered her that this water does not in the long term satisfy and that in Him was the fountain of living water that springs into eternal life. If we would but drink from this fountain of living  water we could be filled with hope believing Him who has said, "....eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). He can give all this to us. This Christmas, be filled and thirst no more.   

 

You paved the way to glories untold

With drops of blood and hallowed tears,

Gifting me life beyond these mortal years;

The bread of life and the living water,

Flowing into my heart from yours,

With parched lips I approach

So I will thirst never more.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art by Liz Lemon Swindle)

SERVANTS OF CHRIST

 

When we think of Job, we think of suffering and endurance and a test of faith, all of which is true. What is worthy of mention is the magnitude of his trials. According to God, Job was righteous, upright and perfect in every way (Job 1:8), so not just any little trial would do for a man of such stature, it had to be something big and big it was.

 

How did Job endure all his suffering? In my mind there is one answer to that. In all his ‘uprightness’ Job became Christlike and could not be moved when the suffering came upon him, even as the Saviour could not be when His came upon Him.  Besides his obedience to God, the Bible attributes  the following accomplishments to Job:

 

He strengthened weak hands (4:3)

He supported those who were falling (4:4)

He strengthened the feeble knees (4:4)

He delivered the poor (29:12)

He cared for the orphans (29:12)

He helped those whom no one else would help (29:12)

He gave the widow cause to sing with joy (29:13)

He was eyes to the blind (29:15)

He was feet to the lame (29:15)

He was father to the poor (29:16)

He searched for people in need of his assistance (29:16)

He never found joy in the suffering of his enemies (31:29)

He never wished evil on his enemies (31:30)

He opened his home to strangers (31:32)

 

In short, Job’s life was a life of selfless service. There is not a more sure way of becoming Christlike than the path of service. But not just any service, true service means allowing a measure of Christ’s regard and love for others to reach them through you. It is being servants of Christ. It is acting in His stead. It is being the means of salvation by proxy. It is loving the Saviour to the point where you would desire to bring souls unto Him. It is following Him to the point where you are endowed with His love, the pure love of Christ. 

 

When we are baptised we become the children of Christ. When we live His teachings, we take the saying ‘you are just like your father’ to another level.

Your footsteps, so big and so deep

Swallow my feeble feet;

I try to keep up

To tend Your vulnerable sheep;

To gather the lost,

To clothe, to feed;

So many for my poorly 

Devised shelter to keep.

Illuminate my steps dear Saviour

With Your glorious light;

Grant me Thy mercy and Thy power

To feed them from Thy godly heart.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

ART: Yongsung Kim