You always hear people’s claims for the best. I have the best recipe for chili, I have the best restaurant you’ll have to try, or, in my case, I know where the best firework show is. So over my long-weekend my roommates and I traveled to Cincinnati to witness, what one of my roommates claimed to be, the best firework display ever. It was about an hour and a half drive from Indy to Cinci, but with a little bit of music, dj-ed by myself, of course, it wasn’t all that bad.
The fireworks were on Sunday night but man were they a big deal. We pulled in on Saturday afternoon and already people had tarps down, and areas reserved. The show was along the Ohio River, so people sat on the Kentucky side and the Ohio side while the fireworks were shot off from the bridges and barges. In my mind, and I’m sure I let it slip, I thought these people were insane. Who would go to this much work for fireworks?! We sat for about 3 hours waiting for them to begin. People had games, cards, I mean the works, waiting for this show. But when it finally did start, oh my goodness was I in awe. We were less than a football field away from them and you could feel the boom in your chest and the sparks lit up your eyes like it was daylight. They were magnificent. We sat between two bridges and they shot from both into the middle and up into the sky. They were massive, and diverse. There were the classic, but also lantern style, and twirlers, and cannon-ball like fireworks. Not only this, but it didn’t just end in ten minutes, no it went on for half an hour ending with their sponsors-names in a firework in the sky. It was by far, the BEST display of fireworks I have ever witnessed in my life. It was well worth the crowd, the 45 minute wait to get out of the parking garage and the occasional rude person.
So this got me thinking. Before Sunday night, I thought I had witnessed all that fireworks could offer. I assumed that with age came the inevitable numbness to things such as these—you’ve seen one show, you’ve seen them all. But boy was I wrong. It wasn’t until that night that in fact, I had seen the best show ever. So what about all those other shows? What about those other nights I walked back to the car in awe at what I had just seen? Does that mean those nights weren’t great? No not at all; it just means that there are still opportunities out there. There are still things that can shock and awe me beyond what I already know.
This past week I’ve come to notice I don’t have a good TAWG (time alone with God). I don’t make it a priority every day to sit down and really get into the Word. Not that in my head, I don’t justify my every action. Why? I couldn’t tell you. I have no excuse accept for utter laziness and lack of desire. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t want to read my Bible or pray, in fact, if I could I would take a full day and just do my own study. This past week someone asked me what I believe about Jesus. I could answer, so that’s good, but my answers were all Sunday-school/church answers. You know what I’m talking about, those kind of answers kids give when they’re not really listening to you. Jesus. God. The Bible. Noah. But it got me thinking about what I actually know about Jesus. I know enough to give someone a rough sketch but I teach wanting kids to know so much more. It just made me realize how much I don’t know. How much I want to know. And how much I really just need to dig deep into the Word. Every once and a while I get this desire to really dig deep and I feel like I’m hitting one of those times; a time where I just want to stop and draw close.
This week I’ve read Isaiah 61:1-4 over and over again. Imagine Jesus, in his prime, standing before the temple, picking up a prophesizing scroll and reading:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
Now imagine him setting the scroll down and saying, “hey this is me. I am here!” I thought I knew who Jesus was. For some naïve reason I thought, no I assumed, I knew it all. But after reading this and remembering how stressed I’ve been lately, how much regret I have for things I’ve done to the people I love, I realized I don’t. I don’t know Jesus as well as I thought. These verses hit me. This is Jesus in a nutshell. He brings hope, he fixes broken hearts, he sets people free from everything and anything, he comforts, he rebuilds people, and so much more.
For me, these verses, these short four verses were like the Cinci fireworks. I thought I’d read touching verses, I thought I knew “Jesus,” but now I’m again in utter awe. So my challenge for myself is this: to get back into the Word. I want to give my kids more than “church” answers. I want to know more than “church” answers.
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