COME UP HERE

Pastor Austen Ukachi

9 December 2015

“Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this” (Revelation 4:1).

AS the year draws to an end, many of us are focused on celebrating the birth of Christ. Some are however, at a critical cross roads when they want to know the mind of God on various issues. Like the sons of Issachar, they want to know the plans of God for the incoming year. Hearing and doing the mind of God is so critical to our success in 2016. At this time of the year, many leaders are seeking God’s face to know how God would want them to lead his flock in 2016 and what decisions and direction to take on certain issues.

Against this background, the words of God to John is very important. He said to him, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” These words were spoken by God to John under different circumstances, but they are very relevant to us now. It is only in the presence of God that we can know the plans of God for us now and in the future. Only in his presence can we hear what the Spirit is saying to his Church. Those who are sensitive to the Spirit want to know God’s mind so that they can act in consonance with what God is thinking and saying. No Spirit sensitive child of God wants to live and act at cross purposes with God’s will and plans. As a Son, Jesus lived his life in obedience to his Father’s will. He did not live to please himself, but to please his father. We also should live to please God and not please ourselves. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me” (John 10:27).

WAKE UP FROM SPIRITUAL SLUMBER

Like Paul wrote, we must “know the times” in which we live in, and wake up out of our spiritual slumber to do what God wants us to do. Some of us are physically awake, but spiritually insensitive to what God is saying to us. “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” Every leader or child of God who wants to walk with God must listen and obey the Spirit of God. The times we live in are “perilous times”, which does not make room for frivolity or careless living. We all must be spiritually alert and sensitive.

ANOINTING THE EAR, THE THUMP AND THE TOE

It is for this reason of knowing and walking in tandem with the mind of God that Aaron and his sons were anointed in the ears, their thumbs and their toes. In Leviticus 8:22-24, God specifically told Moses to consecrate and anoint Aaron on their ears, their thumbs and their toes. This is because they needed to hear God clearly, they needed to serve God aright and needed to walk in step with God in their service. “And he brought the second ram, the ram of consecration. Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, and Moses killed it. Also he took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. Then he brought Aaron’s sons, and Moses put some of the blood on the tips of the right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses sprinkled the blood all around on the altar.”

In this critical times, we must ask the Lord to anoint our ears so we can hear aright, our eyes so we can see correctly and our minds so we can understand what God is saying to us. God wants to speak to us; he wants to reveal his plans to us, but are we ready to listen and obey him?