Turn again, O Jehovah, our captivity,
Like the streams in the south.
— Psalm 126:1-4
It is not enough for us to come into the church life positionally. Eventually we must realize, “Lord, there are many things within me that are still under captivity. I made a positional turn already when I came to the church life. Now I would like to have a dispositional turn. O Lord, turn me again!” This is a precious realization. Our initial enjoyment of the church life leads us to a higher and richer enjoyment, which requires a deeper turn. The more we enjoy the church life, then the more we realize that the Lord is urging us to be turned again from our captivity. He is waiting for us to pray, “Lord, turn me again! I turned once already! Now turn me again!”
As far as our position is concerned, we can testify that we are in a marvelous place. Here in the church we enjoy Christ, we enjoy the Body life, we enjoy the meetings and gatherings, we enjoy the ministry of the truth, we enjoy the fellowship among all the saints, we enjoy the flow of life, and we enjoy so many riches. When we first began to enjoy the church life we were like those that dream. We had no way to describe it. Our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue was filled with a ringing shout. We declared, “Praise the Lord, I am in the church life!”
But gradually we calmed down. Eventually we realized, “Oh Lord. So many things still capture me. On the one hand I am released. Positionally I have returned from my captivity. On the other hand, I am still under so much captivity dispositionally. I am still captured by so many other things.” When we are still in captivity we are not free to follow or serve the Lord in full. We find ourselves limited in our ability to cooperate with Christ as the Builder of the church. When we realize this about ourselves we should pray, “Lord, turn again my captivity.”
Adapted from The Journey of Life, pages 60-61.
Tomorrow: “Captured by Our Self-Life”