Signing Day

Signing Day

4/26/16

Most of us have “signed on the dotted line” to do something, whether it is for a sports team, a quilting club, credit card, bank account, or a marriage certificate.  Most of us have taken these signings serious and have given it our all while participating in the specific activity or project.  However, not everyone continues to follow the course until its completion and they lose their way at some point along the journey.  It is this condition that this nation and the Church find themselves living in today.  God is calling us to return to His standards and allow Him to restore our lives to His fold, for the letter that He signed for us contains His blood and has eternal markings.

There are a few documents that I have placed my signature on that have had great meaning in my life.  For the most part, I have never really thought about all of the documents that I have put my name on, nor have I considered much the importance of this placement of my name either.  But as I have pondered this subject for a bit I have come to the realization that even though I have agreed to play little league baseball and have signed my marriage license both of these signatures of mine have a direct meaning to a level of commitment that cannot be taken lightly.  There is a reason that organizations, groups and other institutions require a signature of the people that are going to represent it but for some reason, many of the signatures that are placed on these documents are never entreated with total conviction.

As stated above there have been some documents that I have signed over my lifetime that I did not take serious enough and after all that was said and done, my lackadaisical attitude towards those signatures took their toll on my life; with some of these tolls still being transcribed in my life today.  I now value my signature on documents and receipts and I just do not place my signature on every little title without fully understanding what might be at stake and the risks that I am taking, little or large my signature has future implications that can do me harm or protect me in the future.

Years before the Declaration of Independence was formally signed, personal signatures of that document were already being penned in the hearts of those who desired freedom from their current situation.  Book after book presents us with the fact that the majority of these men and women prayed to God for answers to their cries, and that they did not take lightly the seriousness of the actions that they intended.  Every way possible was forged before engaging in an ugly and bloody situation that would be endured through the actual bloodshed of the heart and veins.  The revolution of this country is unique in several ways with the freedom of worshiping God being one of them.  The unique setting of our nation lies at our roots when the first people to set foot on these shores listened to the call for a refuge for everyone who wanted to worship God freely.  It was this truth that set our nation afloat in a chaotic and humanistic world, one that would stand out from the rest without remorse.

The beginnings of this country are deeply rooted in controversy and the ideas that she represents follow along those lines today. The founding fathers of this nation – all the way back to John Smith and his party – have ultimately made a stand against the rulers of their past governments and took an oath of allegiance to form a new way of life.  The founding fathers of this nation, the ones who birthed and forged the formal constituents, also represented a legal decree of their independence from their ruling government as well.  For these two settings, God and all of His encompassment played a gigantic role in these struggles for freedoms that were desired by hungry people.

When the founding fathers of this country finally had enough of the ruling tyranny of the British government, they began a movement of independence that would one day prove to be the shining glory for future personal and national revolutions and movements.  What many of us in the present day may not comprehend is what these people’s actions meant to the rest of the world, along with how their actions set a timely precedence for our world today.  We may ignore that these men and women placed their lives on the line in order to provide a better life for their families and descendants that followed them and we may ignore the fact that their signatures on documents placed marks on their heads for rewards for their deaths.  The men and women who fought for the freedoms of this country had bounties placed on their lives yet they boldly moved from place to place producing the foundation of an established nation that the world has never witnessed before.  These people knew exactly what it meant when they placed their names on these documents and while their hands were shaking as they scratched out their names onto paper, they did so with proud steps and fearful hearts and complete trust in God.

It was the signatures to the most important document of their time that led to this bounty for their lives.  It was a choice of freedom that these men and women pondered and argued over for months before coming to a conclusion.  Their cohesiveness through painful gains together molded what this country has stood for ever since its humble beginnings back in the early 1600s. Their drive for freedom gave them the presence of mind to enable such courage in their constituents to stand up for their freedom from governmental overhangs both in the personal levels and national levels.  God was the center of all engagements no matter what types of beliefs were present in each battle, all worked together to ensure that freedom rang for those who wanted it the most.  In our country’s history, we read that some of these people were reluctant to sign documents and others flat out refused to participate on any level of independence but the majority of those who desired true freedom boldly took the oath of freedom that we know today.

Many centuries before the establishment of this great country, another revolution and death warrant signature party took place, and while the stakes were similar in structure these odds included an eternal basis also.  There should be no question that Jesus’ life here on earth represents the greatest death warrant for all humanity.  For those of you, that believe that Jesus’ life was a cake walk and one that just spread flowers and goodwill around to the crowds around Him, need to know that you have been fooled enough that you probably can no longer grasp the truth and concept that He represented the war for your eternal existence.  Yes, war!  Nothing less than war and everything that war represents is included in His existence here on earth and it was through this example that 12 men signed their death warrants with the world when they chose to become His disciples.

You want an interesting story to read, read about when Jesus called each one of the disciples to follow Him; then keeping that information in your forebrain, think back to the portions of our revolution that coincide with this setting.  One will see that there are many similarities to both stories which may enlighten you to comprehend what is at stake here and just how important our choices are when it comes to our lives and we are presented to the world.  Not all of the disciples were willing just to drop all of their duties, walk away and follow some dude that claims to have the answers that they are seeking.  But, in order for us to understand what is going on we must recognize that Jesus knew each one of their hearts first and then chose them one by one according to what was in their hearts.

While Jesus represents the ultimate blood signature for all of our existence, His life is not the focal point of this article, that subject is reserved for you and it is you that God wants to speak to and to share with you the importance of the battle that is being waged for your eternal placement.  When the disciples agreed to walk with Jesus you know that they continued to have doubts about their decisions.  They were humans they had the exact same thought processes as we do today.  Their bodies operated in the same manner as we do today.  Besides the modern technological advances of today, there are no differences from either the disciples or our lives.  Jesus spoke to His disciples on a constant basis and God wishes to speak to you on a constant basis as well as long as we are willing to listen on the other end.

There is no question that the friends and families of the 12 men that Jesus chose to call His disciples had a hard time figuring out how to respond to their decisions.  These men gave up their professions to join a rag-tag group of men that came from scattered backgrounds.  While some of the men were related, others had no clue about anyone else in the group, yet they quickly found out that their lives and newly commissioned mission were going to be totally different than anything they had ever been involved in before. People began to stare at them and talk about them as they passed by on the roads.  Some people turned their backs on them and shunned them from societal settings all because they now believed differently than previous. 

According to the general population, the person that these men now associated with felt compelled to go against the establishment that governed their everyday lives which could only promote trouble and grief for everyone, all according to the people involved.  However, what these people were chatting about was true, Jesus did come to the earth to shake things up and to teach the world why God loved us enough to send His only Son to die for us so that we may once again have direct communication with Him.  THIS IS THE REASON THAT WE ARE IN A WAR!!  It is through this act from God and choice of Christ that serves as the foundation of our existence; yes, including the human presence in the Garden of Eden.

These men, when they chose to walk with Jesus, effectively signed their lives away to the world and thus created a death warrant for their heads.  Our enemy understands exactly what Jesus’ presence meant for our lives, he also understands that as long as you are walking on this earth you have the potential of advancing the truth about life itself and what lies beyond our physical existence.  The 12 disciples were direct representatives of the Church after Jesus left the planet and when one studies the lives of the disciples after Jesus’ resurrection, it is easy to tell that they had personal bullseyes on their heads.  Each woman and man that followed the life and words of Jesus fell into this category as well, for while these people were not considered to be the “12 disciples”, they were indeed disciples of Christ and thus subject to identical consequences as if they were.  As it was during the temptation of Christ in the desert, we must always remember that when we combat the enemy and his kingdom, anger shall always ensue.

The disciples were now marked by the enemy and through societal means, his revenge for their signatures for Christ was enabled.  Not one of the twelve escaped persecution and most of them died at the hands of those who opposed their words of true life.  The people that continued the faith and truth of Christ suffered immensely just as the founding fathers of this nation did millennia later.  So, how has this pattern continued into our paths today?  I am glad you asked this because this pattern has taken a turn for the worse and has mutated into a sickening death trap of our own accord.  It is an 180-degree turn that is almost completed and one that if completed shall render our lives at the mercy of the Creator Himself.

God wants to know that first and foremost He loves us with all of His heart.  God also wants us to know that He adores our existence and there is no greater feeling that He can harbor when we choose to accept His ways for our lives.  God understands that there is a fight for our eternal lives and that it is of direst state that we come to grips with this truth and the importance of this truth.  God understands that when a person goes against the kingdom of the world blood shall be shed because of the nature of what is at stake.  God wants us to know that in every circumstance He is willing to be an active participant in the trials and troubles that we face and God wants us to understand that if we truly call on His name He is faithful and just to walk right beside us during these times.

The men that chose to follow Jesus and signed their names to His presence created a signing day like no other.  Both the physical and eternal were represented there when they agreed to join Jesus’ journey.  Our lives represent the exact same signing day when we accept Christ as our savior as well; there is no difference at all.  The world wishes nothing but death on your life for it can offer nothing else but such a result.  The kingdom of this world has the home field advantage and it is we who are not suppose to become intermingled with it, for we were created to be separate from the world.  The world enslaves you for it does not possess the authority to free anyone from any situation.

Many of the founding fathers had money or easy lives before the revolution began.  Some had enormous plantations, some were merchants and others lawyers.  All respectable positions that may or may not have been deemed controversial but all of them had one thing in common once they signed that document with their hearts, a death warrant.  The disciples lived almost in identical conditions but while many of the founding fathers escaped death the disciples were not as lucky.  Today, we are witnessing similar conditions when people stand up for God and His ways.  This pattern shall only continue and grow worse unless the Church wakes up and starts completing her mission once again.

There is an important detail that we need to remember here and it is a detail that our enemy recognizes each and every second of our lives.  Our lives was bought for a price, a price so precious that none of us can really understand with our limited minds, but it is through this price that our lives are given their foundation and it is this price that the war rages.  Whatever we sign our names to and whatever we sign our hearts to is recorded down in the heart of God and in the mind of Satan.  It is our signature that drives kingdoms and it is through our signature that advances the chosen kingdom.  Signing day is at hand and some of us have already dotted the “I’s” and crossed the “T’s” but so many have not made that choice yet and it is those hearts that need to be reached.

DLB