Princesschair’s Weblog

I often wonder what old friends from high school may think of these posts if they ever read them. LOL–They knew me when. I’m so different now, but I’m still the same old me, too. We’re all like that, aren’t we? Well, If you’re one of those old pals, let me say I love ya and hello! You’re my favorite. I promise I haven’t joined a cult or gone off the deep end, talking about dying to myself and asking Jesus to stick things in my heart in order to go to the high places and stuff. That all sounds insane! And yes, if I didn’t know what I know, I’d be raising an eyebrow, too.

But man, this morning I read the Bible’s poetry-book called Song of Songs, which is an allegorical picture of God’s Son Jesus and the people who believe and put their trust in Him. We’re devoted to Him; we’re even called His bride in the New Testament, so the lines this lady in the poem says apply to we who love Jesus. Anyway, she says, “I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.” He says to her, “All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you. (He sees her much differently than she sees herself.) Come with me from Lebanon (her home), my bride. . . come down from your lonely, lofty heights, from your dangerous places, your lion’s dens, your mountain haunts of leopards. For you’ve stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes. . . how delightful is your love. . . how much more pleasing is your love than wine. . . .” Okay, see, this isn’t talking about religion. This is deep, satisfying relationship with someone who absolutely adores you! This is what I’m into!

Who wouldn’t leave everything behind for that? To be safe in the arms of one who’s like that, we move across the country, we leave our friends and family, we get a new job, we say hang it all–this is better than anything. Now imagine if that someone was all-powerful, all-good, all-royal–a king. We love The Princess Diaries and Pretty Woman for how they portray an ordinary girl being exalted to a love affair with someone royal. Even Lady Diana’s story captivated us until it went bad because they were real life, and they were both flawed. We want to see this kind of story all the time because we were wired to want it. We were made for more than this.

The best part: the story is true. It all points to Jesus. He was and is a real man, and He isn’t like Prince Charles at all! He is the quintessential poetry man who always does the right thing, who has nothing wrong with Him; He is the romantic man who can kick some ass too. He went about things in a totally crazy way: He let Himself be killed so He could use death to take on the devil Himself AND the root of the problem we all make for ourselves at the same time. Jesus took your wrongdoings upon Himself and hung them out to dry on a cross. Then He took them down with Him into death where they have to stay when we latch onto this gift of forgiveness He offers. Not only that, but Jesus did the impossible and rose back to life FOR REAL. No one else has ever done this. Through this, He proved His plan worked and that there IS heaven: eternal life, all good, with God. HE is the only way to get into that, because He’s the only one who’s actually paid the fee.

Plus, there IS more to life even here on this level, and knowing Him is the ticket. It’s not about being good enough or saying the right prayers or going to meetings enough or even believing the right doctrine or saying no to yourself like a nun all the time. . . it’s believing what the Bible says about Him is true, then walking that out with His help. He never intended us to make a one-time profession of faith, then go about our merry way doing what we’ve always done. He wants to BE with us. He gave His life to hang out with us. Forever.

So if that means choosing to say no to that whole bottle of wine in favor of getting to bed early so I can rise earlier to talk with Him for a while before the day carries me away, then yes! I choose that. If it means listening to Him say, “Don’t respond to that ugly comment that guy just said; give a smile instead and walk away as soon as you can, and pray for his happiness,” then heck yeah, I’m going to follow Him like that. If it means looking weird to some who just can’t get their minds around this kind of stuff, then okay. I’ll take it like a woman in love, ’cause I can’t go one day without Him. I seriously am not me unless I’m lost in Him. I’m not perfect about getting into Him, I’m having a drink once in a while, I may let a choice word slip when things don’t go my way, I’m still human, and how. But I see the better way when I read the Bible, and in the power of God’s Holy Spirit, I’m changing to follow Him more and more.

I invite you to do the same when your time is right. I hope that time is today. If you want to, just say, “God, I’ve put you aside because I never saw things this way before. I’ve got a lot of wrongdoings in my history, and I believe you’re willing to take those on for me. I believe you did die on the cross, and I believe you also rose back to life. I want that eternal life and forgiveness package you offer, please. I want to walk clean and get a bath when I mess up, and to know that once I’ve said this to you and meant it, I am born again, and you’ve got me in your hand, and you’ll never let go of me. I can never be unborn, so I won’t let myself doubt that I’m changed. I trust you to put your Holy Spirit inside of me to guide me from getting too far off the track for you to reel me back in for the rest of my life–I’m going to need that a lot. I welcome you into my heart, Jesus. Thanks for loving me when I’ve been so ignorant. Teach me how to love you back. Show me the Father’s true heart. too, please. Thanks for fixing everything.”

If you just said that and meant it, you’ve entered into a new thing. And I’m crying happy tears about it. If you’ve read this far and not said this yet, I hope you will. I hope it burns in your mind until you do, because it’s like having a baby–you have to take a major leap, but afterward you can’t bear to imagine life without it. You’ll never, ever regret it. Write me a comment if you jump so I can jump up and down with you. I love ya. You’re my favorite. Forever.