Above the Horizon |
Greenville, S.C. USA
Where am I? A question I often find myself asking. I get out my compass, open it and take an azimuth - a forward azimuth and a backward azimuth reading. But, what truly is an azimuth?
az-i-muth (az'e meth), n. the arc of the horizon measured from the north point, in navigation, to the point where a vertical circle through a given heavenly body intersects the horizon.
Now I know where exactly I have come from and where exactly I am going and as long as I stay along that course between the two points, I know where exactly I am.
In life, this is so important, because even if I feel like I have no idea where I am and can see nothing around me, I can be sure that my course is safe.
Too often I find myself trapped by my vision of things around me - unsure of what I can trust when my eyes need to be fixed on hope. In the book of colossians there is a great verse of hope:
"Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. " - Col 3:2
I like to go to the beach and look out at the horizon. With my feet just in the water, the horizon line is merely five miles away - for an average six foot man. I could fix my eyes just below the horizon, set my course and azimuth, get in a boat and sail to that fixed point. When I get there, I can look out again and only see yet another horizon. Repeatedly, I work my way through the calculations, point to point, horizon line to horizon line until eventually I have circumnavigated the globe. What an amazing feat! I have joined the ranks for the few who have attained such a goal. But I have merely ended up right where I started - nothing truly gained.
Oh - but the joy in my heart as I realize such great truth of what changes in my destiny when I move my focus from below the horizon to just above. No longer is my destination point five miles away, but suddenly - with such simplicity of understanding and movement, my eyes gaze into infinity - now an eternal destiny!
As I walk horizontally in this world, I must not become bogged down by the temporal drudgery of sin and self. I must walk - and it will be horizontally while I deal with life and all that it brings. However, my eyes and my heart and my mind - all that is in me must be fixed above the horizon - on things above where Christ is seated - where eternity awaits -where my hope is set - my home and my inheritance - the promises of a Sovereign God in the Grace of Jesus!
Where am I? A question I often find myself asking. I get out my compass, open it and take an azimuth - a forward azimuth and a backward azimuth reading. But, what truly is an azimuth?
az-i-muth (az'e meth), n. the arc of the horizon measured from the north point, in navigation, to the point where a vertical circle through a given heavenly body intersects the horizon.
Now I know where exactly I have come from and where exactly I am going and as long as I stay along that course between the two points, I know where exactly I am.
In life, this is so important, because even if I feel like I have no idea where I am and can see nothing around me, I can be sure that my course is safe.
Too often I find myself trapped by my vision of things around me - unsure of what I can trust when my eyes need to be fixed on hope. In the book of colossians there is a great verse of hope:
"Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. " - Col 3:2
I like to go to the beach and look out at the horizon. With my feet just in the water, the horizon line is merely five miles away - for an average six foot man. I could fix my eyes just below the horizon, set my course and azimuth, get in a boat and sail to that fixed point. When I get there, I can look out again and only see yet another horizon. Repeatedly, I work my way through the calculations, point to point, horizon line to horizon line until eventually I have circumnavigated the globe. What an amazing feat! I have joined the ranks for the few who have attained such a goal. But I have merely ended up right where I started - nothing truly gained.
Oh - but the joy in my heart as I realize such great truth of what changes in my destiny when I move my focus from below the horizon to just above. No longer is my destination point five miles away, but suddenly - with such simplicity of understanding and movement, my eyes gaze into infinity - now an eternal destiny!
As I walk horizontally in this world, I must not become bogged down by the temporal drudgery of sin and self. I must walk - and it will be horizontally while I deal with life and all that it brings. However, my eyes and my heart and my mind - all that is in me must be fixed above the horizon - on things above where Christ is seated - where eternity awaits -where my hope is set - my home and my inheritance - the promises of a Sovereign God in the Grace of Jesus!
