Beauty
Beauty
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
A wise man once said, “A mist in the pulpit is a fog in the pew”. I wish I could remember who said that. I was in college and he was speaking to those who would become pastors. My goal was to become a teacher so I only half way listened to his wisdom back then. Today, I understand his thinking completely. At times, I find myself needing to try and explain things from the Bible that I am a bit fuzzy on. I kind of get what is being taught but I haven’t fully formed how to express those thoughts yet…but it is Sunday and I have to say something! My mist often becomes the congregation’s fog. Lucky for me, our people are pretty loving and so they seek to grab the few things that I do have clear. Today, for this blog I stand in the mist and hope you can see clearer than I do. I am just learning and seeking to understand more.
In the verse above I believe I see clearly the great truths that are being taught. Even though this is probably the most well known verse and often taught to children, this verse is packed with deep and life changing truths. I also believe that I can see the ethical and moral changes that the truths of this verse leads to. When fully believed, these truths bring changes in my life that result in me lovingly being obedient to my Lord and Savior. Again, I am pretty clear about the truths and ethical goodness that results from these truths when they transform my life.
Where I become a little fuzzy and am striving to be able to better meditate on and express to others is in trying to understand how this verse (and many others) express the beauty of God. I believe, that one of the goals of the Word of God is to reveal the beauty and the splendor of God to us. What we struggle in is that this beauty and splendor is so beyond us and anything that we have in this world that we struggle to communicate and understand it. We often use his creation as a reflection of his beauty but he is far more than that. His beauty is seen in his eternal, selfless love that would move him to send his Son to die for us. At times, I witness selfless love in others and my heart is moved. But their love, even though it is selfless, is still imperfect and it falls short of the perfect love that God has for himself and for us. I rarely find myself meditating on the beauty of that love. I want to learn to see more of his beauty through these revelations of him.
That’s it. Not sure I can write much more. I am still learning. Just thought I would share where God is turning my heart so that you might have the opportunity to turn your heart there for a few minutes today. “One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” Ps. 27:4
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
A wise man once said, “A mist in the pulpit is a fog in the pew”. I wish I could remember who said that. I was in college and he was speaking to those who would become pastors. My goal was to become a teacher so I only half way listened to his wisdom back then. Today, I understand his thinking completely. At times, I find myself needing to try and explain things from the Bible that I am a bit fuzzy on. I kind of get what is being taught but I haven’t fully formed how to express those thoughts yet…but it is Sunday and I have to say something! My mist often becomes the congregation’s fog. Lucky for me, our people are pretty loving and so they seek to grab the few things that I do have clear. Today, for this blog I stand in the mist and hope you can see clearer than I do. I am just learning and seeking to understand more.
In the verse above I believe I see clearly the great truths that are being taught. Even though this is probably the most well known verse and often taught to children, this verse is packed with deep and life changing truths. I also believe that I can see the ethical and moral changes that the truths of this verse leads to. When fully believed, these truths bring changes in my life that result in me lovingly being obedient to my Lord and Savior. Again, I am pretty clear about the truths and ethical goodness that results from these truths when they transform my life.
Where I become a little fuzzy and am striving to be able to better meditate on and express to others is in trying to understand how this verse (and many others) express the beauty of God. I believe, that one of the goals of the Word of God is to reveal the beauty and the splendor of God to us. What we struggle in is that this beauty and splendor is so beyond us and anything that we have in this world that we struggle to communicate and understand it. We often use his creation as a reflection of his beauty but he is far more than that. His beauty is seen in his eternal, selfless love that would move him to send his Son to die for us. At times, I witness selfless love in others and my heart is moved. But their love, even though it is selfless, is still imperfect and it falls short of the perfect love that God has for himself and for us. I rarely find myself meditating on the beauty of that love. I want to learn to see more of his beauty through these revelations of him.
That’s it. Not sure I can write much more. I am still learning. Just thought I would share where God is turning my heart so that you might have the opportunity to turn your heart there for a few minutes today. “One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” Ps. 27:4
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