We are currently in the Biblical month of Tammuz. As with every month on the Biblical calendar, Tammuz has certain characteristics that are unique to this month. One of those characteristics is that Tammuz is linked to the constellation Cancer – the crab. The constellations were set in place by God Himself (several are mentioned in Scripture). The Lord writes His story in the stars and the study of the heavens was a key element in ancient Hebrew culture because God Himself established it. But that is a discussion for another time.
Getting back to the crab and its significance to the month of Tammuz, this is a time for us to remove the shell around us and become vulnerable to the Lord. It is a time to ask Him, “What shells have I built around my heart that keep me from being completely open and honest before You? What have I positioned in my life that hinders my intimacy with You?” To remove our shell with someone and stand completely naked before them is to allow ourselves to be fully seen, fully known and yes, fully loved. Intimacy requires a level of trust that the other party is going to accept us as we are and love us in spite of our imperfections. And since the body is made up of many parts, and we are those parts, what we establish in our own lives becomes what is established in the body as a whole.
I believe that many of the broken places in our society today stem from the fact that the body of Christ has taken on a false identity. We look to government leaders, the education system and other worldly structures to right our societal wrongs when we need to be looking inwardly at who we as the church have become. We have assimilated into a worldly system under the guise of being “seeker-sensitive” to the point that toleration of sin and abuse of grace are just as prevalent within the walls of the church as they are outside. We have forgotten that we are to be set apart – in the world but not of it. We have forgotten that we, the sons and daughters of the Most High, carry within us the DNA of Christ Himself and have a responsibility to build a single Kingdom – the Kingdom of God. Instead we have abdicated our roles as ambassadors of heaven and opted instead for the task of building our own little kingdoms and chasing after an experience more than we pursue the Presence.
It is time for the bride of Christ to return to her true identity. It begins with removing the shell and getting completely honest with God and with ourselves. It starts with asking Him to reveal to us what we have allowed in our hearts that hinders our ability to hear His voice and our willingness to walk in complete obedience to Him and Him alone. It is time we remember that we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. We are “a people for God’s own possession, so that (we) may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called (us) out of darkness into His marvelous light; for (we) once were not a people, but now (we) are the people of God.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)
When we individually get naked and vulnerable before the Lord and allow Him to touch those places in us that need to be brought into alignment with His plans and purposes for us, then unity in the body is restored. Repentance leads to restoration, which leads to reformation. The transformation of our society can only happen under the leadership of a pure and spotless bride of Christ. What we allow to go unchecked within the church will run rampant in the streets. Judgment begins in the house of God. But so does the glory.
Remove the shell. Release the glory.
