As a student studying in a Christian institution of higher education, sometimes I am "required" to read the Bible. I put the word required in quotation marks because I firmly believe that it is not the school, my professor, or even myself who has the agenda which calls for me to read a specific text at a particular time. Yes, the Sunday School answer applies in this situation.
God exists outside of the confines of time and he has an infinite amount of knowledge about infinity. Bringing these two aspects of God together, the Creator of the universe exists as the most knowledgeable and timeless author ever, ever, ever, ever ... ever. He has been writing, is currently writing, and will always be writing the most exciting, adventurous, painful, sorrowful, laughter filled, joyful, loving stories we refer to as our lives.
Today the sun is shining, wind is whipping, and the cold is cold. On days like today, I stare out the window observing the texture of the snow. In Minnesota, the angles and elevations don't equate to exciting skiing, but the glimpses I get of snow spark something inside my memory. Part of the story that God has been writing was foreshadowing the events that would take place in the library today.
As I was doing some "required" reading, my eyes scanned the pages of the book of Job like a barcode scanner at the grocery store. Sometimes you grab food from the shelf expecting to pay full price, but at the checkout, there's a beep and a bag and looking at the receipt you notice your savings of twelve cents! This puts a smile on my face. Before I read the book of Job, I had some preconceived notions. I was expecting doom and gloom, depression, lamenting, and a focus on Job's sorrow. As the beep took place and this reading was in the bag, a smile came across my face. The focus of this book is on who God is and how he relates to his people!
In Job 37:5-6 it says "God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. For to the snow he says, "Fall on the earth..." Reading this again for the fourth time puts the icing on the cake. Oh how is wish I knew this verse three years ago when I was a ski bum in Canada. Hold the phone. God, existing eternally in his infinite omniscience, knew that I would read this verse today. He knew this three years ago, amidst weeks of high pressure, rock-hard landings, and dull edges. My prayers were answered then and are being answered now.
Now I see what I did not once see.
My purpose in life was not to ski.
But to know God more fully.
In his Word I see his face.
Every day I receive his grace.
I am ready to run this race.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
I'm An Alien
Do you ever forget who you are? I know that I do...often. At least more often than I would like too. Now, I'm not saying that I forget who I am in this world. My name is Justin and all that jazz, I'm not losing my memory, at least in the physical sense. Sometimes I think I forget who I am in the spiritual sense though.
Tonight has been a long night. It's 3:21a.m. on the West Coast right now and I've been up all night. For much of the night I've been thinking about how much I want to go home and I don't mean back to MN, which is where I am originally from. I want to go home to my Father, to my Savior; to my King.
I went went to the Ministry Training Institute following my two years at AFLBS. I studied cross cultural missions and spent three months of my second semester in Mexico. While there I learned many things, but often during the night I would long to go home. I felt out of place. I didn't fit in. I didn't know the language, the customs, or the people. I longed for home and the familiarity of the things and people that I knew. Now, a missionary has the opportunity, and rightly so, to become familiar with the language, customs, and people, of another country, in the spiritual sense though I don't want that. As a believer I don't want to become familiar, as I once was with the customs, language, and ways of this world. To know what they are and acknowledge that they exist is important, but I don't want them to become a part my life. All too often I am afraid that they are and I have much to learn about the ways of God and the things that are important to Him and how to walk as a believer in this world, but those are the things that I long for and ultimately I long to go home.
Ephesians 2:19 says, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." Now, the context there is about the Gentiles becoming partakers of what God had given to the Jewish people first, but the fact remains that we have been allowed into the family of God and citizens of his Kingdom and members of his household. How cool is that!
I never want to forget that but I often do. I wish things weren't what they are here, but reality says differently. Things are not as good as they will one day be for those who believe and I wish that many more would come to the knowledge of the truth.
I wept tonight. I want to go home. I don't feel at home. May it never again be that I do. May it never be that any of us do. We are not of this world. May we learn to walk as citizens of the Kingdom and Family that we now belong to.
Tonight has been a long night. It's 3:21a.m. on the West Coast right now and I've been up all night. For much of the night I've been thinking about how much I want to go home and I don't mean back to MN, which is where I am originally from. I want to go home to my Father, to my Savior; to my King.
I went went to the Ministry Training Institute following my two years at AFLBS. I studied cross cultural missions and spent three months of my second semester in Mexico. While there I learned many things, but often during the night I would long to go home. I felt out of place. I didn't fit in. I didn't know the language, the customs, or the people. I longed for home and the familiarity of the things and people that I knew. Now, a missionary has the opportunity, and rightly so, to become familiar with the language, customs, and people, of another country, in the spiritual sense though I don't want that. As a believer I don't want to become familiar, as I once was with the customs, language, and ways of this world. To know what they are and acknowledge that they exist is important, but I don't want them to become a part my life. All too often I am afraid that they are and I have much to learn about the ways of God and the things that are important to Him and how to walk as a believer in this world, but those are the things that I long for and ultimately I long to go home.
Ephesians 2:19 says, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." Now, the context there is about the Gentiles becoming partakers of what God had given to the Jewish people first, but the fact remains that we have been allowed into the family of God and citizens of his Kingdom and members of his household. How cool is that!
I never want to forget that but I often do. I wish things weren't what they are here, but reality says differently. Things are not as good as they will one day be for those who believe and I wish that many more would come to the knowledge of the truth.
I wept tonight. I want to go home. I don't feel at home. May it never again be that I do. May it never be that any of us do. We are not of this world. May we learn to walk as citizens of the Kingdom and Family that we now belong to.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)