Songlines

Hebrews 9:9b "According to this arrangement [the first covenant of the law], gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper" (13-14) "For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God."

I was thinking this morning about God's plan for mankind throughout history. The plan for redemption did not happen in an instant. Jesus wasn't born of Adam and Eve. Jesus wasn't sent to Earth to fix the problem the minute it happened. Rather God's plan for redemption came about over what to us seems like a long period of time. Why did it take so long for Jesus to come?

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live without time. Time is one of the dimensions in which God has set up this world so that we cannot imagine a world that does not exist on a time scale. We measure everything by time, and especially in our culture, our lives exist around time. How much time do I have? Can I get there on time? Is my time running out? I think we're afraid of the concept of eternity because, as much as we try to slow down the effects of time in this world, the concept of living forever is downright scary. What are we going to do with all that time?!

But God exists outside of time. He exists in time too, but his ways are such that He fulfills His purposes in His own timing which does not operate in conjunction with ours. For me, I get impatient waiting. I don't like to wait. And yet, this seems to be such a key aspect in the redeemed and transformed life. We wait. We do what we can, and we do what God calls us to do, and then we wait. We wait for God to do his work, and we wait for His plans to be accomplished.

So much heartache and suffering has resulted from our impatience. Look at Abraham and Sarah. God promised a son, but they got impatient and decided to take matters into their own hands. I can see hundreds of examples from my own life of so many times when I get impatient and try to take matters into my own hands.

Interesting in 1 Corinthians 13 how the first line in the description of love is "Love is patient." Love means trusting that God's ways are perfect, and God's ways take time. Sure, with the snap of his fingers he could do what he wills to enact his plans for everyone, but through waiting and discipline, he is in the act of transforming us to His image.

One song that I've been playing over and over in my cd player lately is "RSL 1984" by the Newsboys. Not one that they play on the radio, but I love this song and the words. Peter Furler says that he wrote the song about growing up in Australia and questioning his purpose and the plan that God had. Part of the song says "God is alive and my magic is no good/ And He's called me out on this walkabout/ He leads me to water and chases each song line/ And I know to know His ways are higher than mine."

He employs Australian culture in the song referring to the walkabout and the songlines. The walkabout was a time of growth when boys were sent out into the wilderness to learn to survive on their own. The songlines are ancestral songs that connect each generation with the next. So basically, he's stating that even in the wilderness, God has a plan and purpose, and He will not let us fall. He provides for us, and we continue our journey throughout the course of history living in the redemption that God has provided for us.

"Let all tears turn to gold/ And all the hell that's raised, Lord let it fade away./ As your glory unfolds/ Give us a part to play, Grant us another day."