Heads Up

As children in school there were times the teachers would allow us to play games in our classrooms when the weather didn’t allow us to go outside.  There was one game we used to play called, Heads up – Seven up, in which the class would try and figure out which of the seven tapped them on the shoulder.  In my class you never tapped John because he was always peeking.  When seven students had been tapped on the shoulder the teacher would say, heads up and the guessing game would start.
When Jesus started his ministry there are times where it might seem that Jesus was playing a guessing game with those he encountered.  He had to be careful in certain things because as He said himself, “My time has not yet come.” John 7:6.  But our Lord often spoke to people in ways that made them think differently than they had been trained to think.  There was a certain clue though that Jesus often used to let his listener know something very important is about to be said.  That key phrase was when Jesus would say, Truly, Truly, I say unto you or sometimes translated, most assuredly, I say to you.  It was Jesus way of saying, HEAD’S UP!
Whenever we are reading one of the four gospels and we come across a Truly, Truly, statement it should slow us down and make us lean in a little bit closer. Dr. Tony Evans says, “This phrase was emphasizing the spiritual significance of what He was about to say.” Over fifty times did Jesus use the phrase of Truly Truly or Amen, Amen to emphasize a point.  The double amen was used at times at the beginning of a spiritual truth as well. Though we use the Amen at the end, Jesus at times used it at the beginning. It was a way of saying that the following statement is true but also the person stating it has firsthand knowledge and authority about it.
Jesus still gives us heads up today. Obviously in the scriptures but also through the Holy Spirit. We know that our lives are a journey and at times we are blinded from seeing clearly what is happening.  It is then that we must trust God when He taps us on the shoulder and recognize His touch in our lives.  It is His way of saying to us, Heads Up for what is coming, even if you cannot see it right now.
Remember the childhood game I spoke of at the beginning?  When the teacher would say, “heads up” that meant I got one guess of who it was that touched my shoulder.  It was amazing how much I studied the eye contact, body language and even wry smiles to see if I could guess who touched me.  When I heard heads up, I got really serious about what was about to happen.  Translate that to today and as I hear the Lord saying to me in some way, Truly, Truly… it is a reminder to pay close attention to what is about to happen.  This week let’s be heads up to when the Lord is speaking to us and may He get all the glory. Amen and Amen!