Luke 10:20 (ESV)
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in
this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are
written in heaven.”
The seventy-two that Jesus sent
out came back excited that even that “even the demons are subject to us in your
name!” (Lk 10:17) Jesus responded that they should not rejoice over that, but
over their names being written in heaven. Too often I think we confuse the
experience we have with the person of God. We encounter God, we experience
healing, we see spiritual forces cower at the name of Jesus, we have an
uplifting worship experience, and we try to re-create the experience.
Several years ago at a ninth-grade
summer camp God moved powerfully during evening chapel. Every camper came
forward that evening to make a commitment to Christ or rededicate their lives
to him. Emotion swept through the camp. The next evening the campers were
looking to re-create the emotion and were disappointed. They had confused the experience
of God with the person of God. In doing so their focus turned from commitment
to experience, from God to self.
We celebrate the experience. But
in focusing on the experience, we miss the real thing. The fact that we are
accepted by God is better than all the experiences we have here on earth. The
fact that there is spiritual power available to us is nothing compared to the
truth that our names are written in heaven. Let us never confuse experience and
power for the truth of God and the reconciliation he offers through Christ.
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