Rev.3: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. This week the words: touch not the anointed has been on my heart like a trumpet 1Chron.16: 22. Yet as I ran thru my week I wondered if I would ever get to the place where I could look further to cut the word to see what truth would arise. And as weariness set in; I even wondered if it was that important yet his trumpets call continued.
Looking at the word anoint I found that the word is mentioned over 80 times in the New Testament and a good portion of those are in the book of Samuel. Thinking on this I was reminded of a class of teaching recently in Samuel and again anxious to connect the dots.
The word itself points to consecrate for a special office; the physical material used is either oil or ointment and it is thought to be sacred and symbolic. This caused me to ask a question: symbolic of what? As I mused on this a bit I had to admit there is much I allow to touch His anointing within…stopping me in my tracks I looked up several scriptures on the subject.
John 20:17 Touch me not for I have not ascended to the Father yet but go unto my brethren and say unto them I ascend to the Father and to my God and to your Father and your God. Cross referencing: I was lead to Psalm 22: 22 I will declare thy name unto thy brethren in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. This lead me to Psalm 40 where to my delight I was reminded of precious songs that have lead me thru many a wild wave and still touch my heart in such an intense manner.
Detouring for a moment to my original thought: 2Cor.6: 17 touch not the unclean thing…again a question arose in me…what is this referring to in my life and what am I willing to do about it? At this point I was tempted to draw a chart of all the input vs output that goes on in a week and make a comparison…yet I was already aware of what I would see. 1Sam. 16 which is worth a read but the verse that stands out: Man sees the outer and God sees the heart. And though I am aware that there are peaks and valleys; I believe it is at that place that is when the trumpet is loudest yet who will have the ear to hear.
Bringing this into real life experience I had an event this week that was so deeply imprinted I feel compelled to share.
As I was listening to the program I heard our pastor express the Fathers delight at hearing us talk to HIM and about Him. No sooner had I heard that I found myself saying Father; please give me someone who would truly desire to hear your words thru me. That day at work I answered a phone call from a woman who was from Boston and now making residence in North Bend (it was a follow up call to check on a gift certificate she was going to use at our club…having a better sense of direction I laughed and said that might be a long commute.)
After several minutes of sharing she got very quiet and I said well I will be adding my thoughts to yours; and then corrected it saying: I hope you are not offended but I have to correct that and say I add my prayers…she lit up saying she was a Christian too. From there she shared she had just been thru cancer treatment and that she was coming up on three month check up…as well as an embarrassment about her body…I was able to share my own experience as well as give her the web site address and a brief description of the apothecary…the long and the short she was blessed I was blessed and we both came away saying LOOK what the Lord had done!
I am wondering if I had not heard the program would I have had the opportunity; for unless one is sent… I am also wondering how much opportunity’s I miss because I let doubt complacency pride and basically unbelief touch the anointing. I am in a place in my own experience where I see a fork in the road; repeating the old ways or stretching forth in faith and getting out of the boat to walk in a new direction. There is a choice; a choice to see he has chosen us. John 15:16 and we are bought with a price 1Cor.6:20 and 7:23. Samuel had a choice, Noah had a choice! If I had not been down the road He has set before me; I would not have had seed to sow…Yet we all have something he has called us to share just as in 1Samuel 3. The question is will we trust him to not let the word fall to the ground? There is a harvest; it is ripe for all who have the ear. Bless the Lord.
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ANOINT THY EYES: BY JOANNE CAIN