Empty Chairs

Hebrews 4 instructs us to come before the Lord, to have a conversation with Him and to evaluate our lives under the direction of His Holy Spirit:
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.   Our Lord Jesus, our great High Priest, has made a way for us to approach Him - even though God is the Almighty One, He still has extended the invitation to come before Him, to have a conversation, which means that we speak to Him and He speaks to our hearts.   Our conversation may lead to evaluation, or our evaluation of our spiritual lives may indicate the need to have a conversation with Him, to allow Him to deal with our hearts, so that we might walk in a manner more pleasing to Him.

Psalm 95 provides us with an invitation to come before God with humble hearts, which can result in a conversation - and perhaps even an evaluation:
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; 7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

Even while Democrats are involved in their convention in Charlotte, there is still quite a bit of online activity about one aspect of the Republican Convention last week.   And, that is the Clint Eastwood speech, sometimes passionate, sometimes profane, but generated attention - I thought about the device where the veteran actor and producer had a conversation with an "empty chair", which was supposed to represent the current occupant of the Oval Office.

And, I shifted my thinking to some instances where Christian speakers have used an empty chair - in each situation, a conversation and/or an evaluation might be in order.  

Dr. Charles Stanley, in his book, "The Gift of Forgiveness", said that, when faced with a person who you need to forgive, one step would be to "Imagine that the first person on your list is sitting in the other chair. Disclose everything you can remember that the person has done to hurt you. Do not hold back the tears or the emotions that accompany the confessions".

You then make the decision to forgive that person once and for all.   A conversation and an evaluation.

Dr. W.A. Criswell, the famed theologian and former pastor of First Baptist/Dallas, told the story of a dying man who needed to have a greater sense of God's presence - he was instructed to place an empty chair next to his bed and imagine Jesus sitting there and talk to Him.   It was said that he died with his hand on that empty chair.   A conversation and an evaluation.

Bruce Wilkinson has used empty chairs, too - 3 of them.   One, representing someone who is sold out to Christ.   Another representing someone who professes faith, but may not be wholeheartedly following the Lord.   And, the third, symbolizing the person who merely sees Jesus as a historical figure.   This illustrates how in the span of 3 generations, as it happened with David, Solomon, and Rehoboam, how people can depart from the ways of God.   Wilkinson encourages people to evaluate which chair fits their lives.  And, this evaluation can call for a conversation.

God is calling us to come before Him and have a conversation with Him - and perhaps that can lead to conversations with other people - people, maybe family members or former friends, with whom we need to make things right.   God is the One who can fill the empty chairs and the emptiness in our hearts.