washing and oiling

I have been listening to an old Keith Green song called My Eyes Are Dry. It's a simply worded song with a deep truth of God. It goes like this:

"My eyes are dry,
My faith is old,
My heart is hard,
My prayers are cold,
but I know how
I ought to be--
Alive to you and dead to me."

"What can be done for this old heart of mine?
Soften it up with oil and wine.
The oil is you, your Spirit of Love,
Please wash me anew in the wine of your blood."

Have you ever been there? Have you ever had emotionless eyes that have trouble tearing up at the most heartrending thoughts? Ever tried to squeeze out a tear just because you know you should be feeling something--but it just won't come out?

What about old faith? When an opportunity to witness comes up and because we're Christians, we've got to say something godly so we repeat testimonies from the distant past because we have nothing fresh and alive to say?

Ever had a hard heart? A song or sermon or worship service should move us, but instead we wonder how much longer it will last and what we're having for lunch. Or what about the brother or sister we see struggling with life itself? Instead of coming along side and becoming the encourager and spiritual friend, we show a lack of mercy and declare they need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Sometimes we don't realize how much we ourselves are lacking--that we have nothing extra to share with them anyway.

How about cold prayers? We're 'supposed' to pray so we say those hurried sentences to claim we've prayed. We've followed the rule. We asked the Lord for the 6 things we need, asked him to bless the people we like, and whined about the inconvenience of our life's little problems. The theme becomes, 'all about me.' Truth is, it's not all about us.

In times past, I've been in all these places. It could be why I've identified so strongly with this song and it has meant so much to me. It not only pinpoints the problems, it gives us the answer to them--getting back to what we knew from the beginning of our walk with Christ. We have to surrender our will to His. It's not always easy to be vulnerable and pliable but if we follow Christ, we are to be dead to ourselves and alive to Christ. After all, it is "in Him we live and move and have our being..."

We must genuinely "enter in" with the Lord when we pray. We must allow ourselves to be vulnerable to Jesus and not go in with all our own answers and directions orchestrating how we want the Lord to work. It is then the other things--the dry eyes, old faith, and hard heart--won't be issues at all, because the Oil and Wine of the Lord will keep us supple and soft in our spirit. We will grow and flourish and minister to each one we meet, whether it be stranger, friend, or family. We will be clay in the Potter's hands.

Lord, don't let me become dry and brittle in my heart and spirit--keep me washed and oiled in you all the time.

I love you all.
Suzanne