This turkey left his home of wood
To give us what no other could.
His smoke ascends to heaven with our prayers.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Family Visit
Briefly perched upon my hand
--Butterflies from distant lands.
With the winds they did depart
With them went a piece of heart.
S. Knox White
Monday, November 5, 2012
The Lie of Choice
As the Lord sovereignly chooses us in salvation, so He determines all of our lives. In other words, we do not choose the important and determinative things in our lives; rather, they choose us. We do not rationally, impartially, and objectively determine who and what will be our God, our families, our uprbringing, our marriage, calling/work, passions, homes, friends, treasures, values, and convictions. We may weigh the options in our minds, but we are only making a pretence of self-determination, which would almost certainly appear ridiculous to those who truly know us.
To argue that we have chosen the things which will reside in our heart is actually to devalue them, to make them interchangeable and peripheral to our identity. To argue that we have chosen them, rather than the other way around, is to make them arbitrary choices. The treasures of our hearts surprise us suddenly, demanding our allegiance, and to them we gratefully submit. While we do have the power to nurse or starve the growth in our hearts, we can neither plant the seed nor pull out the roots. Only the Lord plants and uproots.
This does not diminish our responsibility, but rather heightens it, for what is easily chosen, is also easily dismissed, forgotten, and betrayed. To argue that we choose the determinative things in our lives is to make us lord over them; we will bend them to our will- we will dismiss them when we no longer have need of them. But to recognize that they have chosen us is to recognize that we serve them, and that the bond is stronger and deeper than our own power to make or break. The Lord's sovereign determination always works in complete harmony with our responisibility.
To argue that we have chosen the things which will reside in our heart is actually to devalue them, to make them interchangeable and peripheral to our identity. To argue that we have chosen them, rather than the other way around, is to make them arbitrary choices. The treasures of our hearts surprise us suddenly, demanding our allegiance, and to them we gratefully submit. While we do have the power to nurse or starve the growth in our hearts, we can neither plant the seed nor pull out the roots. Only the Lord plants and uproots.
This does not diminish our responsibility, but rather heightens it, for what is easily chosen, is also easily dismissed, forgotten, and betrayed. To argue that we choose the determinative things in our lives is to make us lord over them; we will bend them to our will- we will dismiss them when we no longer have need of them. But to recognize that they have chosen us is to recognize that we serve them, and that the bond is stronger and deeper than our own power to make or break. The Lord's sovereign determination always works in complete harmony with our responisibility.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)