Gleanings (12/16/11) – Sought after
Zechariah 7:8-8:8
“And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets.”
What an incredible image of the restoration of Zion, children playing in the streets. Our last home in Birmingham was on a cul-de-sac with thirteen homes. Lots of families with small children inhabited the street. Yes we had the outlier curmudgeons (two) but most of the families were marked by joy. Nine or ten months out of the year children played in the circle at the end of the street, many climbing a maple in the middle. It was always a blessing to look out and see such unbridled enthusiasm and to hear raucous laughter.
Such it will be like when restoration takes place, when the kingdom is established in its fullness. And it will be appropriately desired just like our street (btw, our home sold in 11 days in the worst market in my lifetime). “You will be called sought after,” God says through the prophet Isaiah.
Sought after! Wouldn’t that be sweet! What if we were to let God reign in us enough to be called “sought after?” In that kind of world there would be no need to bribe folks to come to church with holograms or Disney styled programs or I-Pod giveaways. People would come because the fellowship would be warm and the environment beyond imagination pleasant. No advertising needed here. People would flock to a people attracted by a sweet sweet aroma.
Will we let Him reign enough in us to be called sought after? Will I? Will you?