New Kids on The Block was a popular boy’s band
in the late 80's and early 90's. We had New Kids on The Block dolls,
stages, clothes, caps, cassette tapes, cards, pictures and anything else their
promoters chose to put their name on. My two daughters were
consumed with them, as well as every young girl their ages. All this
stuff is now in our junk room, waiting to
be serious collectors' items for Ebay. It has been in there a long time
and is quickly approaching yard sale inventory.
One day the girls heard that their favorite band would be
performing outside of Nashville, Tennessee at the Starwood Amphitheater. They
just had to go, so we managed to get tickets. The day finally arrived and we
made our way to Nashville. When we got to the exit ramp to Starwood, we
had to wait in line for about an hour to exit off. We finally made it to the
amphitheater and found a place to park. We made it in and staked out
a place on the grassy hillside with a perfect view of the stage. As
usual, a startup band performed. We were enjoying the music and relaxing on
our little grassy spot.
I was feeling pretty good as a dad. I was relaxed, my
daughters were thrilled and Debbie was happy. I did not know my leaning back in
the grass, on my elbows, would quickly end, after
the first note was sung by "The New Kid's on The Block. Then it
happened. They came out and on their first song thousands of little girls
jumped to their feet, shouting, squealing as only little girls can. I couldn't
see. I knew they would all sit down in a minute. "Nope", wasn't
going to happen. Then I heard a little voice in desperation say, "Daddy, I
can't see." I only had one choice. We were packed in. We
couldn't move. The crowd was standing for the duration. No possible
sitting down was imminent.
At that moment, I
was going to make a lifetime memory for my baby girl. "Betsi, get on Daddy's shoulders." I
managed to stand up with her on my shoulders, with her clinging to my hair and
ears. "Can you see now?" “Yes", she said, as she joined in
with the other squealing little girls. (I just called her to verify if it
was still a lifetime memory. She still accurately remembers the
occasion.)
This was a special occasion for our daughters. We all had
fun. My neck and back muscles were only sore for a week. Betsi had eyes, but she could not see. The
people standing were blocking her view. If she was going to see her
favorite singing group, she was going to have to be lifted above the crowd.
Have you ever had anything you really wanted to see, but
could not because something was blocking your view? How many times
over the years have you made a point to be earlier than anyone else to an event
your child or grandchild was involved in? We make a point to not have anyone
blocking our view of those things we highly value seeing.
You and I live in the world
with many attractions, luring our eyes to want to see them. So much to see, both
good and bad. I have noticed the attractions and places I wanted to see, certain preparations had to be made to see them. Deb and I wanted to
carry our family to Disney World a few years back. We planned for a year; we picked a date we all could get off work; we purchased airline tickets, a Disney meal plan, made reservations at the Disney resort we had
chosen and decided on what clothes to take. I had to make sure my work was caught
up and clients could contact me. I put carrying my family to Disney
World on my "bucket list" on January the 1st of the previous
year. Deb and I gave this to our daughters and their family for
Christmas. With all this planning and a strong anticipation of seeing
Disney World with our family, we did see it, had a great time, and made many
memories.
Whether it takes a month or a lifetime, if our goal is
to see a certain vacation spot, ball game, famous person, historical place, etc..., and
we make a determined effort and follow our plans, we will see our goal.
In my lifetime, I have
seen many of the places and things I have wanted to see. If my life is to
be whole, my greatest goal and impact on my life and the lives of those who
surround me, would be to desire, with all my heart, to see God. Jesus
tells us in Matthew 5:8, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall
see God. I have to understand what this verse means to me. I
know this verse does not contradict what God tells Moses in Exodus 33:20,
But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man can see Me and live". In
John 1:18 Christ says, "No one has seen God at any time" and in John
14:9 He says, "...He who has seen me has seen the Father."
Go to Exodus 33:14-23. God tells Moses that His Presence
would go before them. Moses asked God, "Please show me your face".
Then God said, "I will make my goodness pass before you, but my
face you cannot see and live." Flesh and blood cannot handle the glory of
God's face. God takes Moses and puts him in the cleft of the rock and covered
him with His hand. As God passes by, He lets Moses see a portion of His back,
but did not let him see His face.
Because Moses had seen a part of God and talked with God, he did not know that the skin of his face
shone while he talked with God. So when he talked to Aaron and the people, the
skin of his face shone. Aaron and the people were afraid to come near
Moses. (Exodus34:29-35) We can understand by this, mortal man cannot
handle seeing the full glory of God. Read my thoughts on this
carefully. God with His great love for us, sent His only begotten Son, to
be born of a virgin, putting on the flesh of humanity so we could see Him
by seeing His Son, our savior, Jesus the Christ, Immanuel(God with us).
How beautiful is this?
Let's now read 1 John 4:9. "No one has seen God at any
time." Then read 3 John 11. "Beloved, do not imitate what is evil,
but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has
not seen God." What keeps one from seeing God? Doing evil will
keep one from seeing God. Where does this evil come from? For from
within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an
evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from
within and defile a man. (Mark 7:21-23, NKJV)
We can see why David, the man after God's own heart, in
Psalm 51:10-11 asked God to create in him a clean heart and a steadfast
spirit. This was when he was repenting of his sin against God with
Bathsheba. He knew what was in his heart and he wanted it out and he requested a
steadfast spirit to keep it out. Also in verse 11 he pleads with God to
not cast him away from His presence and to not take His Holy
Spirit from him. David, a man after God's own heart, had thoughts in his
heart that produced his sinning against the God he loved so dearly. He
did not want his seeing God blocked by the sins of the flesh anymore.
David, in both his triumphs and trials, valued being in the
presence of God by having his thoughts centered on God and the will of God in
his life. Has our view been blocked from seeing God today in our country? Those
things in the heart we just read about in Mark 7:21-23, keep us from seeing
God. David had killed the giant Goliath, slain his ten thousand, was
captain over about four hundred men, had won many major battles, escaped
from Saul's spear and sword, but when his eyes caught Bathsheba bathing on the
rooftop, the thought of being with her brought him down quicker than any giant
could. This crushed him. Go to Psalm 51 and read how he felt about having
this evil in his heart. David wanted to see God and be in His
presence, but the thoughts of his heart blocked his view. He knew a clean
heart and a steadfast spirit would put his eyes focused on God again.
I wonder if the majority of people in our country are even
concerned about God much less wanting to see Him. What stands in the
way of people desiring to see Him? What blocks the view of those
that want to see God? How can we have a pure heart? We have to be
like my daughter, Betsi when her
view was blocked from seeing the "New Kids on The Block". She
sat on my shoulders and I stood up above the crowd so she could see. If
we want to see God, we will have to do the same thing, except the only shoulders
tall enough for us to see over the world, are the shoulders of our savior, Jesus.
Do you want to see God? It will take a pure heart. At a time of year when many hearts are opened for loving others, my next posts will be written to stir our hearts to be pure. Please share on Facebook and comment by going to rhepler52@gmail.com
Thanks,
Rickey
