Once upon a time there was a man. This man would rise from slumber as the curve of the great day-light peaked above the eastern horizon. He would peck the forehead of the One he loved before heading off to participate in a round of competative sport.
One day, the man set off--as he was accustomed to doing--looking forward to another morning of splendid exercise. The sport was a fast paced, high action meeting of sweaty exertion. When the soaked gathering parted ways, the man ventured home feeling quite refreshed.
He pittled around the house waiting for the One he loved to arise from her slumber. As he pittled, he stopped with a start and stared down at the third finger of his left hand... The cherished symbol of his glorious union to the One he loved was not where it should be.
Immediately his mind flashed back to his pre-sport preparation in which he removed the symbol of his union to prevent any sporting participants from being bloodied. His mind recalled stringing it to his possessions intending to return it to its proper resting place on the third finger of his left hand once the sport had reached its conclusion.
This intended action was never taken--meaning that the belov-ed symbol of his union to the On he loved went missing.
It is gone.
Gone.
Gone.
Immediately upon realization, the man gently aroused his sleeping beauty to inform her of the dreadful news. She took the news solemnly, knowing the torment raging within the man's essential organs. She beautied herself--which did not take long for her natural beauty was like that of a blossoming lily standing beside a glimmering pool of cool water all awash in the morning sun-- and the man and woman returned to the scene of the disappearance.
The ironic thing about the location is that it was also where the One he loved spent her days, instructing the youth of the city challenging their minds, developing our future. The man had responsibilities to attend to, so he left the one he loved to search out the location of the disappeared symbol of their union.
As he carried out his day, he impatiently awaited signal of a found symbol, but none came.
And to this moment, the man waits with bated breath. Unable to concentrate on tasks set before him in fear that the symbol of his union with the one he loved--loves all the more in lgiht of the situation at hand--will be lost forever...
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Take My Life...
The Westminster Catechism responds to the question, “What is the chief and highest end of man?” by responding “Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.”
Do we truly hold that our chief and highest end—our very reason for being is to glorify God, and fully enjoy him forever? Do we wake from sleep each morning with a burning passion to live life to the glory of God? Is God’s glory the goal that is the driving force behind every word that we say, every thought that we think, and every decision that we make?
In the Old Testament priests would bring the offerings of God’s people to Him in the form of a sacrifice—lambs, goats, that sort of thing. The best of their flock would be offered as an atoning sacrifice, a representation of what would ultimately take place with Christ. They would offer the best of their flock as a statement that God deserved it, he was worthy of the very best that they had.
We no longer offer animals in burnt sacrifice—the lives that we live, the songs that we sing, the attitudes of our hearts are our living sacrifices to the God who is more than worthy of our praise.
In Malachi, the prophet chastises the priests of God for offering up less than their best. They were sacrificing the blind and the lame as offerings. They were giving God whatever they had left over—simply so they could go through the motions of sacrifice. The result of their actions was that the whole process lost all meaning; what was meant as a sacrificial act of worship point to Christ became a meaningless ritual.
Are we not guilty of similar things today? Doesn’t the clutter of life often get in the way of living the lives that we so desire to live? Get in the way of living life in a way that God intended? How many times are we so consumed by the things of life—however important they may seem—that we are left bringing God what we have left rather than our best? We give out of emptiness rather than out of fullness. When we relate to God in fatigue and weakness rather than energy and strength, the Christian life loses meaning; what should be a sacrificial life of worship becomes meaningless ritual.
May we passionately seek him with all of ourselves. May our prayer be, “take my life Lord…”
Take my life, and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee;
take my moments and my days,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move
at the impulse of thy love;
take my feet, and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing
always, only, for my King;
take my lips, and let them be
filled with messages from thee.
Take my silver and my gold,
not a mite would I withhold;
take my intellect, and use
every power as thou shalt choose.
Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
take my heart, it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store;
take my self, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.
Do we truly hold that our chief and highest end—our very reason for being is to glorify God, and fully enjoy him forever? Do we wake from sleep each morning with a burning passion to live life to the glory of God? Is God’s glory the goal that is the driving force behind every word that we say, every thought that we think, and every decision that we make?
In the Old Testament priests would bring the offerings of God’s people to Him in the form of a sacrifice—lambs, goats, that sort of thing. The best of their flock would be offered as an atoning sacrifice, a representation of what would ultimately take place with Christ. They would offer the best of their flock as a statement that God deserved it, he was worthy of the very best that they had.
We no longer offer animals in burnt sacrifice—the lives that we live, the songs that we sing, the attitudes of our hearts are our living sacrifices to the God who is more than worthy of our praise.
In Malachi, the prophet chastises the priests of God for offering up less than their best. They were sacrificing the blind and the lame as offerings. They were giving God whatever they had left over—simply so they could go through the motions of sacrifice. The result of their actions was that the whole process lost all meaning; what was meant as a sacrificial act of worship point to Christ became a meaningless ritual.
Are we not guilty of similar things today? Doesn’t the clutter of life often get in the way of living the lives that we so desire to live? Get in the way of living life in a way that God intended? How many times are we so consumed by the things of life—however important they may seem—that we are left bringing God what we have left rather than our best? We give out of emptiness rather than out of fullness. When we relate to God in fatigue and weakness rather than energy and strength, the Christian life loses meaning; what should be a sacrificial life of worship becomes meaningless ritual.
May we passionately seek him with all of ourselves. May our prayer be, “take my life Lord…”
Take my life, and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee;
take my moments and my days,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move
at the impulse of thy love;
take my feet, and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing
always, only, for my King;
take my lips, and let them be
filled with messages from thee.
Take my silver and my gold,
not a mite would I withhold;
take my intellect, and use
every power as thou shalt choose.
Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
take my heart, it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store;
take my self, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Our Fallen Icons...
Christianity has many heros of the faith. People who have grown beyond their rotted corpses, to a larger than life existence where they are no longer mere men, but are revered like the gods of ancient mythology.
Their legacies are held up as examples to follow. Their writings are the prized possessions of masses of young, aspiring theologians and pastors. Their morals, uncompromised; their discipline unmatched.
Hold Up.
Why, oh why, do we fail to remember the whole story. In all of the praise and admiration for these geniuses of old we forget of the great atrocities committed in the name of Christ... Great attrocities committed by some of these very same god-like men.
I understand that ideas do not equate personhood. When a guy with great ideas about how to solve world hunger problems is convicted of having kiddy porn on his computer, his ideas remain great even though his person is marred with moral corruption. So when we have men who have written great works about God and His revelation, we should not toss out their works, even in spite of the great atrocities they comitted or endorsed.
I have heard it said that these great men, as great as they were, simply had blind spots. They were human!
Alright. I understand humanness... Believe me, I have a firsthand understanding of it. But humanness does not justify actions. I am left unwilling to associate myself, or my Lord, with the horrendous things done in His name.
If all labels must point backward to men and movements of old that bringing a clear and marked fallenness to the image of my Holy God, then I will not be labeled. I will serve Him label-less. As I serve, I pray that all of the imperfections that I bring to the picture would fade, leaving the image of a Holy God to any that may see me.
Their legacies are held up as examples to follow. Their writings are the prized possessions of masses of young, aspiring theologians and pastors. Their morals, uncompromised; their discipline unmatched.
Hold Up.
Why, oh why, do we fail to remember the whole story. In all of the praise and admiration for these geniuses of old we forget of the great atrocities committed in the name of Christ... Great attrocities committed by some of these very same god-like men.
I understand that ideas do not equate personhood. When a guy with great ideas about how to solve world hunger problems is convicted of having kiddy porn on his computer, his ideas remain great even though his person is marred with moral corruption. So when we have men who have written great works about God and His revelation, we should not toss out their works, even in spite of the great atrocities they comitted or endorsed.
I have heard it said that these great men, as great as they were, simply had blind spots. They were human!
Alright. I understand humanness... Believe me, I have a firsthand understanding of it. But humanness does not justify actions. I am left unwilling to associate myself, or my Lord, with the horrendous things done in His name.
If all labels must point backward to men and movements of old that bringing a clear and marked fallenness to the image of my Holy God, then I will not be labeled. I will serve Him label-less. As I serve, I pray that all of the imperfections that I bring to the picture would fade, leaving the image of a Holy God to any that may see me.
Monday, March 27, 2006
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