Seriously - check out Genesis 3. When God curses Adam in Genesis 3:17-19, he specifically curses Adam's toil and work of the land. In essence, he cursed Adam's creational purpose - to tend the Garden. But the result was the work became wearisome, difficult, frustrating and... just plain hard. God created man to work - to tend His garden, to name His creation. Work is part of God's image in man.
Just think about it. God, on a casual day, decided to do work (or the closest thing God can do to work). He decided to create. And after His image, we too are intended to work. But not to toil, struggle, or labor under that work!
I think we see God's creational image clearly in young boys when you give them a set of Legos. Suddenly, that little boy becomes a creator - first, following the instructions, and then branching out on his own, seeing this piece over here and that part on this other part - and they come to life. He makes them his own. This is God's image in him.
Back to snow.
I've now lived on the same street for two winters. Last winter, I learned an important lesson. Because the mail-carrier refuses to get out of her car, and instead treacherously drives down the side of the road while steering from the passenger seat, I must - I must - shovel in front of the mailbox. I absolutely MUST remove the snow so my contrite and humble mail carrier can pull directly up to the box and drop off my letters. If I don't, I will receive an increasing amount of hate mail and angrily-scrawled notes in my box, until I simply stop receiving the mail.
Last winter, it took about two months to finally work up the energy to go and tackle the problem in front of my mailbox. When I finally made my way out there, I found a two foot thick slab of ice and snow, with another good foot of slush from the plows on top of that. I must have spent at least 8 hours with an ice pick and shovel, over the next few days, appeasing my mailcarrier.
This year, after the first snowfall, I immediately went out and carved out a nice area in front of the mailbox.
Its struck me in the past - as it did this morning as I shoveled - how accurately that describes our dependence on Scripture. God has given all Scripture as profitable and useful - but not all in every situation. Not every passage of Scripture is directly relevant to certain things we might struggle with. For instance, Paul wrote Romans 1 both as an introduction to his great Christian treatise, but also to clearly indicate out sin, and the history of our sin. He wrote it so that we would not hold ourselves in high regard, or not think ourselves guiltless. He wrote it because, if we want to talk of salvation, we must start by talking of sin.
If you're struggling to find your place within the church body, Romans 1 is not going to immediately impact you. It's not going to directly speak into your life. Yes, Scripture is living and active, and the Holy Spirit may use it. But it wasn't the purpose of the passage. You'd be much more encouraged after reading I Corinthians 12, or Ephesians 4, or Romans 12.
That's why reading Scripture must be a daily, consistent, and continual activity. It cannot be mediated by specific situations in our lives, or be done simply when we feel we need "our God fix." Scripture builds upon itself, telling the same story and weaving itself together from Judges to Ezekiel back to Genesis, into Hebrews and through Revelation. It starts and ends and comes back upon itself in one glorious, complete cycle of deeper and fuller and greater understanding. And in it, and through it, God has chosen to reveal the fullness of who He is and His desperate love for us. Never think you have plumbed to the depths of Scripture - He who reveals Himself through the Word is inexhaustible - and, in paradise with Him, we will rejoice in the good revelation of Himself through His Word for eternity.
Many years ago, I was at the dentist, and told if I didn't floss, I might die. Seriously. Those were the exact words. "If you don't floss, you might die." I would develop gingivitis, and it would work into my blood, and I would die. It wasn't going to happen immediately. I wasn't going to feel it, specifically. But I would die (her reports seemed overly sensational).
The same is true for Scripture, though, is it not? But much deeper, and much more profoundly. We read consistently, diligently, and patiently. We read not for ourselves, but to provide space for God to work within our lives. We read not to puff up our pride, but to avail ourselves to the humbling and redeeming work of the Holy Spirit. We read to know Jesus Christ.
We read, because not building a foundation of Scripture is much worse than death by gingivitis - it's much worse than two foot slabs of ice and slush. We read, because "faith comes from the hearing the message - and the message is heard through the Word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).
1 comment:
Good post. :-)
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