Not a Tame Lion
Revelation 5:5 and one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals."
Not a Tame Lion
You have to take the Lord for who he is, you can't reinvent him to make him what you want him to be, He's not some "nice guy next door, "or a sweet, little old "Grandpa" ready to hand out goodies. You have to take him as he is revealed in Scripture. He is God, He is awesome, and we approach Him with a mixture of fear and reverence.
In His book series "The Chronicles of Narnia" C. S. Lewis portrayed Christ quite wonderfully as a beloved, powerful, Lion named Aslan. You fall in love with the character over and over again as you read his books. But He is not just some big "Pussycat" to romp with the children in fields of flowers. In the story a little girl named Lucy asked Mr. Beaver if Aslan is "safe". The question surprised him, and he answered, I quote, "Safe? Who said anything about safe?" Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the king, I tell you".
So it is with Christ. He's not safe, to serve Him you may have to forsake everything you hold dear, but he's good! The Lion of the tribe of Judah is not a tame Lion. Hebrews 10:31 tells us "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
We must regard God's Holiness, Revelation 4:8 tells us that He is Holy, and paints a awesome picture of our Lord. "And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, :Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."
He is bigger than we can take in or understand. Creator of countless worlds, author of the Cosmos. Psalm, 95:6 says, "Come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." He is our Lord and Master, and we must play by His rules. Friends, we don't really have the faintest notion just who or what we're dealing with when we do business with the eternal God. We cannot "buy" his favors with good works or money. No matter what you send to a TV preacher it makes no difference. But He does regard faithfulness. And for some reason He loves us, and gave His son for us. Romans 5:8-"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us". Romans 8:32 -"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things"?
He loves us infinitely yet we would be wise to fear Him" Psalm 2:11 "Worship the Lord with fear and trembling." We tremble because the Holy Creator, the Lion of the tribe of Judah is not tame. Proverbs 9:10 tells us that, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" declares the Lord.-Isaiah 55:8
He is good, and loving and kind. I know this for a fact, but He will leave you bruised and bleeding on the floor if that is what the situation calls for. And it will from time to time. 1 Peter 4:12 tells us "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;"
But He will be there even in the worse trouble, turning it always toward our good. It is easy to get angry in those times, to rail against heaven, to shake your fist at what seems to be an unjust God. We loudly declare our pain. But we forget that he carried every pain, every rejection, every insult before we were even born. He does not ask us to do anything he wasn't willing to do Himself. We keep forgetting that we don't call the shots, trust Him and He'll take you on the wildest ride of your life and give you joy and adventure beyond your wildest dreams.
We humans have a natural respect and admiration for Lions, they are the national symbol of many Nations, Albania, Belgium, England, Ethiopia, and Singapore to name a few. Lions are mighty beasts, according to the internet they usually weigh around 400 pounds but the largest on record weighed 826 lbs. It is said that their roar can be heard up to five miles away. They are reported to be able to bring down animals like rhinos and buffalo. The Swahili word for lion is "Simba" which means king, or strong and aggressive.
The Lion of the tribe of Judea is a mighty beast. He's not a tame Lion, you can not control him, He is in control and HE WILL DO IT HIS WAY. We play by his rules. Do we always understand? Usually we do not. Can we trust Him? Job 13:15 says "Though He slay me yet will I trust Him" The Lion of Judah is not a tame Lion, but He is good and He is king. And if you trust in Him He will get you to where you need to be.
Not a Tame Lion
You have to take the Lord for who he is, you can't reinvent him to make him what you want him to be, He's not some "nice guy next door, "or a sweet, little old "Grandpa" ready to hand out goodies. You have to take him as he is revealed in Scripture. He is God, He is awesome, and we approach Him with a mixture of fear and reverence.
In His book series "The Chronicles of Narnia" C. S. Lewis portrayed Christ quite wonderfully as a beloved, powerful, Lion named Aslan. You fall in love with the character over and over again as you read his books. But He is not just some big "Pussycat" to romp with the children in fields of flowers. In the story a little girl named Lucy asked Mr. Beaver if Aslan is "safe". The question surprised him, and he answered, I quote, "Safe? Who said anything about safe?" Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the king, I tell you".
So it is with Christ. He's not safe, to serve Him you may have to forsake everything you hold dear, but he's good! The Lion of the tribe of Judah is not a tame Lion. Hebrews 10:31 tells us "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
We must regard God's Holiness, Revelation 4:8 tells us that He is Holy, and paints a awesome picture of our Lord. "And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, :Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."
He is bigger than we can take in or understand. Creator of countless worlds, author of the Cosmos. Psalm, 95:6 says, "Come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." He is our Lord and Master, and we must play by His rules. Friends, we don't really have the faintest notion just who or what we're dealing with when we do business with the eternal God. We cannot "buy" his favors with good works or money. No matter what you send to a TV preacher it makes no difference. But He does regard faithfulness. And for some reason He loves us, and gave His son for us. Romans 5:8-"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us". Romans 8:32 -"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things"?
He loves us infinitely yet we would be wise to fear Him" Psalm 2:11 "Worship the Lord with fear and trembling." We tremble because the Holy Creator, the Lion of the tribe of Judah is not tame. Proverbs 9:10 tells us that, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" declares the Lord.-Isaiah 55:8
He is good, and loving and kind. I know this for a fact, but He will leave you bruised and bleeding on the floor if that is what the situation calls for. And it will from time to time. 1 Peter 4:12 tells us "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;"
But He will be there even in the worse trouble, turning it always toward our good. It is easy to get angry in those times, to rail against heaven, to shake your fist at what seems to be an unjust God. We loudly declare our pain. But we forget that he carried every pain, every rejection, every insult before we were even born. He does not ask us to do anything he wasn't willing to do Himself. We keep forgetting that we don't call the shots, trust Him and He'll take you on the wildest ride of your life and give you joy and adventure beyond your wildest dreams.
We humans have a natural respect and admiration for Lions, they are the national symbol of many Nations, Albania, Belgium, England, Ethiopia, and Singapore to name a few. Lions are mighty beasts, according to the internet they usually weigh around 400 pounds but the largest on record weighed 826 lbs. It is said that their roar can be heard up to five miles away. They are reported to be able to bring down animals like rhinos and buffalo. The Swahili word for lion is "Simba" which means king, or strong and aggressive.
The Lion of the tribe of Judea is a mighty beast. He's not a tame Lion, you can not control him, He is in control and HE WILL DO IT HIS WAY. We play by his rules. Do we always understand? Usually we do not. Can we trust Him? Job 13:15 says "Though He slay me yet will I trust Him" The Lion of Judah is not a tame Lion, but He is good and He is king. And if you trust in Him He will get you to where you need to be.