The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand.
But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to
be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute
we understand, we are obligated to act accordingly. Take any words
in the New Testament and forget everything except pleding yourself
to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will
be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Yes, it is dreadful
to be alone with the New Testament! (Soren Kierkegaard)
We must understand that God is less concerned about our ruined life and more with His ruined Name. Make no mistake – His Name will be glorified. To get on board with this is the wisest decision we could make in this life. After all, does not beauty lie in the eyes of the beholder? Only those on the outside would see such God-glorifying life as ‘ruined.’ Surely it is the most glorious thing I have ever known.
How lovely is Your dwelling place, LORD Almighty!
My sould yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (Ps 84:1-2)
Nature exudes the glory of its King. Look around you. Here, enormous clouds form a canopy by day, retreating only to reveal a spectacular, endless starry sky at night. Tall grass kneels before the power of the wind while a large field of smaller V-shaped ones appear to erupt in spontaneous applause of their Creator.
We must understand that God is less concerned about our ruined life and more with His ruined Name. Make no mistake – His Name will be glorified. To get on board with this is the wisest decision we could make in this life. After all, does not beauty lie in the eyes of the beholder? Only those on the outside would see such God-glorifying life as ‘ruined.’ Surely it is the most glorious thing I have ever known.
How lovely is Your dwelling place, LORD Almighty!
My sould yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (Ps 84:1-2)
Nature exudes the glory of its King. Look around you. Here, enormous clouds form a canopy by day, retreating only to reveal a spectacular, endless starry sky at night. Tall grass kneels before the power of the wind while a large field of smaller V-shaped ones appear to erupt in spontaneous applause of their Creator.
For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power
and divine nature – have been clearly seen. (Rom 1:20)
and divine nature – have been clearly seen. (Rom 1:20)
From the grandest skies to the smallest creatures, the simplest of minds seems to get it right –
Even the sparrow has found a home,
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young –
a place near Your altar,
LORD Almighty, my King and my God. (Ps 84:3)
Simple matters. Simple minds. Why have we allowed life to become so complicated? Or is it even a matter of our allowance? I feel for most of us it is the only thing we have ever known. Truly this must be one of the greatest misfortunes of sin: what once was beautifully simple became dreadfully complicated.
Simple matters. Simple minds. Why have we allowed life to become so complicated? Or is it even a matter of our allowance? I feel for most of us it is the only thing we have ever known. Truly this must be one of the greatest misfortunes of sin: what once was beautifully simple became dreadfully complicated.
To the sinner [God] gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth. (Ecc 2:26)
Life apart from Christ is nothing more than the endless pursuit of never-satisfied pleasure. Life becomes increasingly complicated by our pride, our greed, our thirst for fame. Complication feeds the frustration in our hearts. Before we have even tasted beauty, it has fled from us forever. We cry out, as Paul:
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom 7:24)
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom 7:24)
“Once we had no delight in God and Christ was just a vague historical figure. What we enjoyed was food and friendships and productivity and investments and vacations and hobbies and games and reading and shopping and sex and sports and art and tv and travel…but not God. He was an idea – even a good one – and a topic of discussion; but He was not a treasure of delight.
Then something miraculous happened.
It was like the opening of the eyes of the blind during the golden dawn.
First the stunned silence before the unspeakable beauty of holiness.
Then the shock and terror that we had actually loved the darknesss.
Then the settling stillness of joy that this is the sould’s end.
We would give anything if we might be granted to live in the presence of this glory forever and ever.” (John Piper)
Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. (Ps 84:10)
We have only one hope of freedom, and that is Christ Himself, the very Hope of glory (Col 1:27).
Simplicity.
Simplicity.
Beauty.
Glory.
The Name of God.
Do not these things go hand in hand? When we let go of striving for a glory of our own and instead live simply – deeply – in each moment, taking in the life of Christ with each breath, we do so to the unsurpassing glory of the Name above all others – the Name of God Most High. Surely, surely, there is nothing more beautiful than this.
