The Final Word: This week comes from our "musicianary" Tom Conlon, phenomenal singer/songwriter, who is currently home from touring and back in Marblehead, MA for the summer while he records his next album.
This week’s subject reminds me of one of my favorite
passages in Ps. 23 “…You prepare a table before me in the presence of my
enemies.” This challenges me to consider that at the times when I feel it most
necessary to act, “in the presence of my enemies”, He invites me to be at ease. When I feel that a show of force and defiance are necessary, He invites me to
recline with Him…effectively, to turn my back on what I’m threatened by, and
exercise the discipline of dealing with my fears and learning to be at peace.
This is counterintuitive; to resist, endure, and prevail in what we call
“fighting the good fight of faith” requires above all pursuing this personal
and corporate peace that comes only in communing with Him as our primary task. It affects our every perception, assessment and action. In Hebrews 4 we’re
reminded to be diligent to enter this rest that He’s provided and to cease from
our own works. This table He is inviting me to is actually a different way of
being in the world. You could say it’s the way of His Kingdom. The imagery of
the marriage feast is no different – a table of friends. When He corrects his
lukewarm bride in Revelation 3, it is with an invitation to ‘come and dine'. Part
of me always fights this - out of shame, indifference or pride, but it remains
an option, and always leads to me being changed. In terms of spreading the good
news, I can’t think of a better place to start.
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