“The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.” (Luke 19:43 NIV)
Yesterday, I spent the day substitute teaching, but in between questions and attendance-taking, I traipsed up and down Palm Sunday Road in each of the gospels. I’m in the research stage of my next message and this morning’s reading in Psalm 139 reminded me of Jesus’ tearful admonishment of Jerusalem as He entered the beloved Jewish city.
Of course, the commentators are quick to tell you how Jerusalem was surrounded and destroyed in 70 AD. The Roman army encircled the city and assembled siege ramps to run over the walls, effectively cutting off supplies and sending Jerusalem’s citizens into famine well before they breeched the boundaries and ravaging the emaciated city. I have read of beleaugered streets cluttered with dead; families finally resorting to drop bodies over the walls because they had run out room for their deceased. Memories of the remains of the Roman ramp I observed at Masada still haunt me and I know from the history books that Jesus’ prophecy came to pass.
I think about siege ramps and I see a bigger implication for the modern reader. When we resist God’s salvation offer, we invite the worst the enemy has to offer into our lives. He sets up ramps against us, readies himself to do battle on every side and sees fit to destroy us completely. But what happens when we surrender first to a loving God and gracious Savior? Doesn’t He coming in like a flood: above, below, behind and before? Aren’t the promises of God every bit more thorough and trustworthy than the threats of the enemy?
It seems as though all of life comes back to this central decision: will we submit to the Lord or succumb to the enemy? The thing is, the enemy is thinly disguised as self. Of course, we don’t wave our white flag to the prince of darkness, he isn’t that obvious. Instead we dig in our heals and choose our flesh over God’s best. We insist on our way instead of the Kingdom way and it’s only when we have gone a good bit down the path when we realize the destruction we are being dragged toward.
Just as Jerusalem had opportunity to choose salvation, so do we. We can surrender to the way of salvation and the life of Christ. We can allow His love and purposes to swim in around us and cover our lives with His power and presence. We can willingly walk with Him and be held by Him and live in the fullness thereof. Or we can enjoy life on our own terms for a little while until the enemy eventually surrounds us and destroys us entirely.
“You have searched me, Lord, and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and You lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” (Psalm 139:1-6 NIV)
These thoughts of divine embankment are not new. My daily office reading this morning shared the prayer of Saint Patrick and echoed the cry of my own heart.
“Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me…”
(Saint Patrick)
Lord, today we acknowledge the inevitability of our surrounding. We realize we will either surrender to You or sit in seige against Satan until we are entirely defeated. Lord, may we gladly choose You now. Your embankment alone brings life and life abundantly. Today we lay aside our agendas, preferences and ideas about our story and submit to Your sovereign leadership in our lives. Lead us, Lord. We are willing captives. Amen.