Recently we have rediscovered a song from years ago, by a South African artist I cannot remember the name of.  We sing it loud and we are convinced that we are not in denial.  Last night, as my husband and I took a little drive in the evening, it played and I sang – until Holy Spirit started to speak to my heart.  First I sang, and then I cried, because I could hear Jesus speak to me, as He did to the disciples, so long ago…

Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told His disciples, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then He said, “This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me.”

Going a little ahead, He fell on his face, praying, “My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do You want?”

When He came back to his disciples, He found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, “Can’t you stick it out with Me a single hour? Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.” Matthew 26: 36 – 41The Message

The song I sang goes like this:  “He has fire in His eyes and a sword in His hand and He’s riding a white horse across this land and He’s calling out to you and me…”will you ride with Me, will you ride with Me? And we say Yes! Yes! Lord! We’ll ride with You!”

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“Yes, Lord, we’ll ride with You.  We will stand up and fight!  We will ride with the armies of heaven; we’ll be dressed in white…”  You get the picture, I’m sure.  Like I said, we sing it with gusto, convinced that we are telling it as it is.  Like the disciples in the garden, we have the best intentions – the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

We say “Yes Lord” with our lips but our actions say something else.  Our actions say “Yes Lord… but remember, You need to read the small print I added to the contract before You sign me up”.  We say “yes” to Sunday morning’s church service, but not to the hospital visit on Sunday afternoon, when we nap to prepare for the next week’s slog.  We say “yes” to putting change into the offering bag, but not to the sacrificial giving that hurts.
We’ll ride with the armies of heaven, but not into the enemy’s camp, not into the far-away land, where they feed us weird food and let us sleep on a mat.  We’ll be dressed in white…when You clean us and we do not have to repent for our food addiction or our porn habit and we do not have to walk away from a destructive relationship or yet another gossip session.

Yes Lord, I’ll ride with You…if all my friends are coming too; Yes Lord, I’ll stand up and fight, but not if it calls me to fast for more than the period between breakfast and lunch or pray through the night.  I’ll ride with the armies of heaven…but not after a long day’s work when I’d rather chill out with something godly like a Christian movie, before I’m early to bed.  “Yes Lord” unless I have to forgive those who hurt me, lay down my pride, love the unlovable. “Yes Lord…”

There’s another verse that goes like this:  “That fire in His eyes is His love for His bride and He’s longing that she’ll be with Him, right by His side.  That fire is the burning desire is that His bride be with Him, right by His side and He’s calling out to you and me…Will You ride with Me?”  And we say “Yes Lord, we’ll ride with You”..if it’s not too uncomfortable, if we overnight in 5-star accommodation, if it’s paid for by someone else, if we have plenty to eat and we ride in style.  Yes Lord, unless it’s too cold, too hot, too dirty, too expensive, too miserable, too confronting, too sick, too sad…because I’m frail Lord and war is dirty business.

Yes Lord, I’ll ride with You…if my friends are right by my side, my husband, my husband, the children, the parents…Yes Lord, I’ll ride with You… if You make me invisible, You know what my boss and my colleagues are like!  Yes Lord, I’ll stand up and fight…after You bless me and after You take my pain away, and You cure me of my insatiable appetite for the things of this world, You pamper my flesh and You sooth my brow.

“Yes Lord, I’ll ride with the armies of heaven, I’ll be dressed in white” but only if You turn those fiery eyes on me Lord, and burn away the dross.  If You illuminate the dark recesses of my heart, where pride resides, where darkness breeds, where the flesh reigns.  Because that is what it will take – death by fire – the fire of the Lover’s gaze upon a bride that He longs for day and night, a bride worthy of the greatest sacrifice.  A life for a life.  The price was paid, His sacrifice was made.  It is finished.  How do you respond to that…