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Are You Seeing What You're
Seeing? Many Christians read the Bible in
gulps, consuming whole passages and pages in one swallow,
looking for something to inspire or encourage them, or
trying to read some preset number of chapters a day. They
read so much so rapidly that they don't see the awesome
theology contained throughout the Scriptures, often in just
a few words, sometimes in only one. Truly, many don't see
the trees because of the forest.
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
go on an overnight camping trip. In a basket they take a
cold meal and a bottle of white wine. They consume both
during their evening of good conversation and banter, then
lay down and go to sleep. Slightly after 3 o'clock, Holmes
wakes up, looks around, reaches out and shakes Dr. Watson
and says, "Watson, wake up! Tell me what you see!"
Watson groggily shakes his head and as his eyes clear,
says, "I see a universe full of stars." Holmes says, "What
does that mean to you?"
Watson replies, "It means there are millions of galaxies
beyond the stars, billions of more stars, and potentially
billions of planets. From the position of the stars, it
means that Saturn is in Leo. The angle of the moon means
that it's a bit after 3 o'clock. The redness of the moon
means we'll have a warm day tomorrow. And the magnificence
of the universe means that the God who created it is Himself
magnificence beyond description. What does it mean to
you, Holmes?"
Holmes is silent for a moment, then he exclaims, "Watson,
you idiot! It means someone has stolen our tent!"
You've certainly read the Gospel
of John many times—so did you see that in the
Lord's high-priestly prayer recorded in John 17, He said 7
times in various ways, "Those whom You gave Me"?
- vs. 2: he should give eternal life to as many as
thou hast given him.
- vs. 6a: the men which thou gavest me out of the
world
- vs. 6b: thine they were, and thou gavest them me
- vs. 9: I pray not for the world, but for them which
thou hast given me
- vs. 11: those whom thou hast given me
- vs. 12: those that thou gavest me I have kept
- vs. 24: they also, whom thou hast given me
What do you make of this?
What explanation do you give for Jesus repeating this so
many times in His high-priestly prayer for all His
disciples? What doctrine do you see in this?
What does this mean to you? |
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John Grindlay Small
From Him who loves me now so well, What power my soul can
sever? Shall life or death, shall earth or hell? No, I am
His for ever! Augustus Toplady
The terrors of law and of God, With me can have nothing to
do. My Saviour's obedience and blood, Hide all my
transgressions from view.
$11.19 - Experience the Presence & Glory of God
Albert Einstein
Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help
but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of
eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of [physical]
reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a
little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy
curiosity. Robert
Lynd
I sometimes suspect that half our difficulties are
imaginary, and that if we kept quiet about them they would
disappear. |
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In his inspirational book,
A
Fresh Word for Today, Bob Gass tells the story of an old
Scottish lady who earned her living by peddling her wares
along country roads. Each day she would go out, and when
she came to an intersection she would toss a stick into the
air. Whichever way the stick pointed when it landed was the
way she went that day. One day a man saw her tossing
the stick into the air once, twice, three times. He asked
her, "Why are you throwing your stick into the air that
way?" She replied, "I'm letting God show me the way He wants
me to go today by using this stick." The man asked, "But why
did you throw it in the air three times?"
"Because," the woman replied, "the first two times He was
pointing me in the wrong direction."
Have you ever kept praying for
something because the answer you've been getting isn't the
one you want? What does that tell you?
Harold J. Chadwick |
