A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. Psalms 121:1-2
· If you put a buzzard in a pen six or eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of his ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of ten or twelve feet. Without space to run, as is his habit, he will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.
· The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.
· A Bumblebee if dropped into an open tumbler will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.
In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat and the bee. They are struggling about with all their problems and frustrations, not realizing that the answer is right there above them. Our best source of help is just above us, but we need to look up and ask.
KLUJICS
For some time I had a stone on my desk that had KLUJICS on it. Most people coming in would cast a glance at the stone and never ask a question for fear of being thought of as prying or even ignorant of some religious language they should know. I’m sure some thought it was just another one of those Greek or Hebrew words that preachers are always throwing out to impress people with. Perhaps it was an organization of some kind or a new program. The truth is that KLUJICS is an acrostic that stands for Keep Looking Up Jesus Is Coming Soon! It served as a reminder to me that whatever was happening in my world that day, hope still stirred in the promise of Christ and His triumphant return. A phone call to fellow-member Burton Cook’s answering machine will always get you the reminder, “Keep looking up because that is where all of God’s blessings come from!”
We are not prone to look up as we walk through life. Too many look down in despondency, look out for themselves, look around in fear, look at others in insecurity and fail to look up to hear the direction and encouragement from our Heavenly Father. Some are running wildly looking for a place to launch like the buzzard or climbing anything they can to get jump on things like the bat. Too many are scrambling around like bees on the bottom of a jar never considering that the way out is up.
Many will recall the old hymn “There Shall Be Showers of Blessing.” The scriptural source of this hymn is Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. and I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing.” Look up and open your life to God’s blessing today.
Scripture to Claim:
Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26
