Every weekday morning my older grandchilden get ready for school or nursery, a process that involves getting dressed and having their curly locks brought into some kind of order. I watch as their mother’s deft fingers straighten collars and fasten buttons, as her skill makes pigtails and ponytails, neatly fastened with bows or ribbons, as she sponges stains off clothes and rearranges clothing to a pristine condition. ‘I want you to look smart’, she tells the girls each morning.

A day’s activity means that if I pick them up later, they look very different. Hair has usually escaped from fastenings; buttons are undone; fresh stains have emerged. This is all part and parcel of a normal day!

The problem for all of us is not to live in a slovenly way with ‘unbuttoned minds and disheveled spirits,’ as Eugene Peterson puts it. It’s easy to see disheveled hair and unbuttoned cardigans (and to do something about them.) It’s not so easy to see the same state inwardly. Paul tells the Corinthians we must take every thought captive to Christ (2 Cor 10:5) In the Message version, Peter says that God ‘won’t let you get away with sloppy living.’ (1 Pet 1:17) Malachi speaks of ‘shoddy, sloppy, defililng worship’, fuelled by indifference and a lack of proper reverence and respect for God. (Mal 1:6) We need to pay as much attention to our inner life and thoughts as my daughter-in-law pays to her children’s morning appearance. We must be vigilant in prayer, attentive to God and mindful of His requirements to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God through the busyness of each day. (Micah 6:8)

Programmes like ‘The Blue Planet’ and ‘The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau‘ introduce us to a world rarely seen by most peopole, the world of the oceans, the world of marine life. They provide fascinating insight into what goes on beneath the surface of the water.

I love the sea, and really enjoy visits to the coast, but I have to admit that I am not comfortable with diving below the surface. I’ve never been good at diving or snorkelling.

Such programmes remind me that there are worlds beyond life on solid ground and that it is good to understand there is more going on in our world than we can see normally with our natural eyes.

Life so often keeps us busy ‘on the surface’, dealing with the immediate needs: what to put on the table to eat, what to wear, how to pay our bills and keep a roof over our heads. The dominant voices around us yell imperatives at us on a daily basis: ‘Consume! Hurry! Buy! Don’t think! Don’t be quiet! And above all, don’t pray (except in emergencies.)’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘On Living Well’) It takes determination and strength to swim against this tide and to slow down enough to explore freshly the ‘reality beneath the surface.’ (ibid.)

I will soon be exploring a new coast (to me) in Norfolk, and I’m looking forward to the therapeutic benefits of sitting on a beach surveying the magnificence of the sea and reflecting on another world I rarely contemplate. Such contemplation in the spiritual realm needs to be a feature of my daily life if I am to live a counter-cultural life that honours God.

Although Dave was not able to be present tonight due to an unexpected injury, his message still came to us. The message was from Acts 13:22 where we are told that God’s testimony about David was that he was a man after God’s own heart. We see from this that Israel’s most famous king, grandson of Ruth and Boaz and youngest son of Jesse, was not perhaps the person we would have chosen to succeed Saul, but he remains a reminder that God chooses people not by outward appearance but by the heart.

The fact that God chose David to be king reminds us of the sovereign providence inherent in all God’s actions. His choice also reflects sovereign planning; this was no spur-of-the-moment decision. God also has sovereign power, meaning He is able to fulfil His plans and purposes for each one of us.

David was far from perfect, but he showed several characteristics which could go some way towards explaining why God chose him.

1. Even as a young man, he had a true and genuine faith (see 1 Samuel 17:34-37).
2. He had a grateful heart, always acknowledging what God had done for him (see Ps 30)
3. He had a truthful nature, being willing to confess his sin and repent and seek God’s forgiveness (see Ps 32 & 51)
4. He had a transparent life, being open and honest with God (see Ps 26:2, Ps 139:23-24)
5. He trusted God and took Him at His word.

We must remember that God chose us and loved us before ever we chose and loved Him (see 1 John 4:19). The qualities God saw in David are those which made Him call him a man after God’s own heart. This too can be the testimony of God about us if we follow David’s example in these five areas of life and faith.

Garry continued his series on Joseph this morning, speaking from Gen 46:1-7. This tells us of Jacob’s journey from Israel to Egpyt, leaving the land of promise. Rationally speaking, this journey made sense since there was famine in Israel and food in Egypt, but Jacob still needed to hear what God was saying. This applies to us too: we need to know what God is saying to us and need to pass on our faith to the next generation (see Deut 4:9).

Just as we have to train our children towards independence, so God does not make every decision for us. We have to grow up spiritually (see 1 Pet 2:1-2, 1 Cor 14:20), making decisions in partnership with God. We live and work in two realms, the material world and the spiritual world and need wisdom in both realms. God may well speak to us personally (as we pray and read the Word) or in corporate times, through spiritual gifts and through other Christians. We must beware the small decisions as well as the big (see Joshua 9:3-15, when Joshua ended up in trouble because he did not consult the Lord about the Gibeonites.)The best way is to seek God over our decisions (see 1 Kings 22:1-7); the early apostles demonstrated wisdom when they said, ‘it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements…’ (Acts 15:28)

Jacob showed maturity by using information from both the material and spiritual realms, drawing near to God through sacrifices, through which God spoke to him. We always need to seek God and heed what He says, for if we go against God, we will end up in trouble. Jacob still hesitated, because to leave the Promised Land must have felt like leaving God’s promises behind. He wanted confirmation from God that this way was the right path for him, and God graciously gave him that confirmation. We need to grow and develop in God, depending on Him and doing whatever He says. If we follow God and do things His way, then we will enjoy fruitful fulfilment in our lives. When we seek Him, we will find Him if we seek with all our hearts; God will give us the encouragement and confirmation to follow the right path to Him.

Revelation 14 is another confusing and visionary chapter, with the Lamb and 144,000 featuring in its first few verses, then three angels and finally the image of the son of man coming with a sickle to harvest the earth and tread the winepress. All this imagery has its roots in other parts of Scripture (Jesus as the Lamb of God is expounded in many places; the role of angels features in many parts of the Bible and the Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13 and Isaiah 63:1-4 use the imagery of harvesting and treading the winepress), reminding us of the ultimate overall coherence of the Bible.

The chapter starts with stalwart believers sing a song of praise to God while standing on Mount Zion, believers who are described as spiritually pure, in stark contrast to the wicked people marked as worshippers of the Antichrist. Next, John sees three angels delivering messages of warning and prophecy. These messages predict God’s impending judgment on sin and evil and remind us that there is rest ahead for those who have proved faithful.

The last section of Revelation 14 depicts Jesus (the ‘son of man’, probably the favourite title he used while on earth) holding a sickle—a farming tool used to cut plants during the harvest. This passage symbolises the return of Jesus in terms of a grape harvest, a metaphor used, as we have seen, in Isaiah 63:1-4. Just as mature grapes are fat and full of juice, the wickedness of unbelievers on earth will have reached a peak at this moment. Just as a winepress crushes and shreds grapes to make wine, the wrath of God will tear apart those who fight against Christ at the end of the tribulation (Revelation 14:14–20). There is a need for all to take in the seriousness of this chapter and to choose your side now!