Train of Thought
The Christian life reduces to seeking God and His Kingdom, and living for His glory.
Easy to say, but it requires an ongoing struggle. We have no strength of our own for such a way of life. If we think we can make this happen by our own efforts, we are deceived.
But by making good use of prayer and learning to encounter the Lord in His glory, we can make real and consistent progress in the faith, both in how we proclaim it as well as how we live.
That should be our goal. We who have been redeemed by the Lord have the privilege, through earnest contemplation, to see His glorious face. He is revealing Himself in His Word and through the world of creation all around us. By taking up the disciplines of reading, study, observation, and contemplation, we can make progress in knowing the Lord and growing in Him.
We are not wise to neglect this privilege or these disciplines, nor to regard them lightly. Seeking the Kingdom of God requires a kind of violence against our natural, sinful tendencies – a spiritual violence by which we lay aside old ways of living and make room for Christ to be formed within us. There is darkness in all our lives which only the Light of Christ can dispel. We need not be discouraged by this. The clouds of darkness that yet linger in our souls can mean that refreshing rains of renewal are just ahead. But we must prepare to receive them.
We should pray daily that the Lord’s Kingdom would advance in and through us, and then go forth, in all our relationships, roles, and responsibilities, to live the truth in love.
Yes, it’s a struggle, and one that runs contrary to our natural inclination to take life easy.
But it’s a struggle that leads to righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, and to making God’s glory known in all our ways (Rom. 14.17, 18; Hab. 2.14; 1 Cor. 10.31).
So it’s a struggle well worth it.
My Powers of Observation
My powers of observation are not what
they ought to be. For revelations swarm
about me; glory weighs down on me, but
I take scant notice, sound no glad alarm.
There’s plenty here to mesmerize and charm
my soul, and fill my mind with heavenly thought.
Yet, though it bear down on me like a storm,
I scarcely see it; I will not be taught.
My senses, trained to vanity and what
is merely trite, do not by nature warm
to things sublime, transcendent, perfect. But
God keeps on jerking, jerking at my arm.
Jerk, jostle, jar, cajole, and jolt me, Lord,
and make me see Your all-around-me Word.
