Sunday, August 3, 2008

The Wheels

6:20 AM by Christi Bowman

Ezekiel 1:4-21
4 I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north-an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, 5 and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man. All four of them had faces and wings, 9 and their wings touched one another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.

10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. 11 Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out upward; each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. 12 Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. 13 The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. 14 The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.

15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. 16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 17 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went. 18 Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.

19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. 20 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

As I sat and watched this with Ezekiel, the day I read it, I got the profound impression that we are supposed to be like the wheels. I think the living creatures are representative of Jesus...they are heavenly beings....they did nothing without the spirit of God (John 14:10&11). The spirit of the heavenly beings (God's spirit through the creatures) kept the wheels in complete motion. The wheels did NOTHING on their own. "Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels."

We have the Spirit of Almighty God in us when we choose to die in the waters of Baptism. Romans 6 PROMISES this. We know that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God that was in Jesus (John 14:20). That Spirit made Jesus who He was, and it is making us as well. Our responsibility is to just be wheels.

As we all know this is harder than it sounds...but only when we let this world and its ideas cloud our clear thinking. I like the song "Somewhere in the Middle" by Casting Crowns.

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence,
reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end
and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences,
the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His
or are we caught in the middle

To be wheels we HAVE to give up ALL of OUR control. We must give up our picket fences, and our common sense. We MUST step OUT of the safety of the shallow end. We MUST trust the Spirit of Almighty God IN us outside of ALL of our comfort zones. We HAVE to recognize the God who IS...not the one we want. We will all know EXACTLY who He is one day, and from what I read of Matthew 25 and Matthew 7 it is MUCH better to recognize WHO He IS and what He expects of His people THIS side of eternity.

I am convinced that Christianity is NOTHING to play at.

Once we are His, we are wheels or we are nothing.

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