A Glimpse

There are many times where I will be reading scripture when all of a sudden the realization hits me of how little I actually see of the kingdom. My dear brother Ethan explains our view of what God is doing as focusing on the corner of a great painting. We see this little bitty piece of the corner and think, “wow, what a masterpiece.” Then we run around trying to show everybody what we have found. That in and of itself is good, when we see a new piece we tell others.

The problem arises when we start to believe and live like that corner is the whole of the painting. The problem is when we start to believe and live like all that we see is the totality of everything. When we think that we have it all figured out , we tend to stop searching and seeking. When we stop seeking, we become like someone who has bought a plane or train ticket and then just sit in the waiting area, even if they bought the tickets months in advance.

How foolish would that be? To buy a ticket to fly somewhere this summer, and then to go and sit in the airport until your plane is scheduled to leave. How much worse then to do that for our trip to the kingdom of Heaven? We cannot allow ourselves to become myopic when it comes the things that God is revealing to us. We cannot just draw a line in the sand and say, “Here and no farther!” Especially since our Savior says to follow Him.

No it is not just ourselves that we stop when we behave in this manner. We stop others from coming to Christ. Think about what you idea of a church service is...go ahead, I will wait...

Why is it that we have come to the conclusion that reverence to God is demonstrated in quiet, solemn demeanor and worship. How many people do we turn away because we have simply become comfortable with our "style" of worship. How many people will never know Jesus because we want all people to conform immediately to us instead of following Paul's example of being all things so that some might be saved.

As I write this, I realize that I could possibly be simply looking at another corner of the painting...so I pray as I hit post "God open my eyes and allow me to see your glory, and your desire for the lost of this generation. Allow me Father to see the whole picture and not just the piece that makes me the most comfortable.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Deep "stuff" as always. Thanks for the questions. That's the point , isn't it? We have greatly underestimated the power, depth and breadth of the message and its consequences if we try to stuff it inside of any four-sided object, be it a building or a box.
11:42 AM
Jeff White said…
God is showing us what we need to see...not necessarily what we want to see. His hand paints in love and to such a depth that staring at one infinitesimal point on His canvas would take a lifetime just to get a glimmer of all the planning and guiding that He enacted to give me that view of Him. That is what we should see when we look around...Him. All of nature declares His glory. We are created in His image. But many times all I see is...everything but His glory. That's my human frailty not His limitations. God ask us to look, to see, and thru His spirit we will understand...what we need to understand to be His child. So my prayer is for God to continue His painting and give me the wisdom see Him in the paint.
1:41 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A guest blogger

This week, we have a guest writer. Dalton (my 16 year old) will be giving his perspective on "keeping it real." Feel free to comment, I will pass it along to him. -------------Johnny Maybe the Coca-Cola Company had the right idea, maybe, with this world that advertises with anything but reality, they were able to see some form of the light. "Keepin' It Real" was and still is a slogan that obviously affected many people, so who is to say we can't use it in our own walk with Christ? First, let me pose a couple of questions: What is "Real?" How do we keep it?, and, more to the point, where do we get it? Let me say this, we can only find real inside of ourselves, it is not something to be bought, it is not something that there is an eternal search for, except inside yourself. I had a friend, who, in a recent conversation about a job interview said "I wish I could just fake it." There is a problem there, once you fake it, once you have p
Read more

How do you...

Okay, I wanted to ask another question. How do you see God? How do you picture, view, imagine, etc... Do you see God as this big police officer in the sky, waiting to pull you over for reckless living? Maybe He has set up a trap to catch you, a "sting" to arrest you for your sinfulness and shame you into being a better Christian. Do you see God as a wish-fulfilling Genie? Running to Him in prayer, during times of crisis. Speaking of crisis, maybe you view the Almighty as some kind of hostage negotiator... SO you give Him your list of demands, the things that you are bargaining for before you will set your heart free to Him. Maybe He is that old guy who lives on your block, you know the one...He knows about everybody else on the block. He is always going from house to house, always with some crazy idea about how you could better mow your grass, raise your kids, drive your car, etc... Perhaps you see God as this ancient powerful man imaged creature, sitting on a throne, wa
Read more

Deeper Water

"When He (Jesus) had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into deep water..." Luke 5:4 (HCS) Growing up in a family that owned a public swimming pool, I spent a couple of days at the pool, and in the water from as far back as I can remember. My family tells me that when I was just a toddler, my brother was in the deep end of the pool and teasing me to "come on in," and reportedly I did. That one incident did not fulfill my desire for the deep end of the pool though. At the age of about 5 or so, my Mom witnessed me swimming from pole to pole along the rope which divided the deep and shallow end. I remember my own children wanting to get to the deep end of the pool too. The singing group Casting Crowns has a song entitled "Somewhere in the Middle" an excerpt that leaps out at me is... "Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control" How close can I get to submitting to God and still keep my __________
Read more