If We are Ever to be Happy

Now, if we were the cause of our own nature, then, indeed, we would be the fathers of our own wisdom...And if we were the source and the only object of our love, we would be self-sufficient and would need enjoyment of no other good to make us happy.

But God is the Author of the existence of our nature and, therefore, He must be our Teacher if we are ever to be wise, and He must be the Source of our inmost consolation if we are ever to be happy.

- St. Augustine, The City of God

Death without Dying (via Between Two Worlds)

Really appreciated this post from Justin Taylor a few days ago.

Death without Dying

Jesus: “Some of you they will put to death. . . . But not a hair of your head will perish.”

In the comments below Tim Keller adds a good word about this verse:

For decades, this verse has challenged me personally. Derek Kidner in his commentaries often refers to it. It shows that modern people have a view of happiness that is defined as a life that is going well, when often the Bible defines happiness as a life that is lived well. One ounce of sin can harm us more than ten tons of suffering, because sin ruins our soul, while suffering (if handled well) only makes us more Christ-like and joyful. So Jesus is essentially saying, “I won’t keep you from suffering, but I’ll keep you insuffering so you can triumph over it.”

Books

"Calvin Miller, in his 1985 article “Confessions of a Librophiliac” in Christianity Today said, quite correctly,"Readers, on the other hand, have at least 7.5 books going all the time... I am working on a survey that will show that, over a lifetime, readers are in bathrooms seven years and three months longer than nonreaders."

I would tend to agree.

Holding Fast to the Word of Life

Quick Thoughts: Genesis 3, 4

Definitely behind on my reading schedule already! But that's OK. It's only January 11th.

Genesis 3:8 “..and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden…”

Don’t we all hide ourselves from the presence of the LORD? It might not be that obvious in how we do it. We might not literally hide. We may still go to church, go to fellowship, go to meetings…we still wear our cross and we don’t do things that bad people do. Yet in all are goodness, we hide from God – we hide from the presence and intimacy with God. We hide in our TV watching, we hide in our hanging out, we hide in our game-playing. And God is seeking us, and sees us, but we turn our eyes away, partly because of shame and partly just because we don’t care.

But that’s no life to live – a life spent hiding from the One who loves to seek us. O God, help us to repent and turn away from our idols and safety nets, help us to stop hiding from you. Turn to us and be gracious to us. Change our hearts so that we might be drawn to Christ…drawn to You.

Genesis 4:9 “Am I my brother’s keeper?” - I think this applies not only in the context of Cain and Abel, that is Cain’s coldhearted killing of Abel out of jealousy of Abel and anger towards God.

This rhetorical question implies that God says we are all our brother’s keeper. And we are responsible for one another. Our relationship should not be marked by polite civility..interaction at comfortable distance. There is rawness, and intimacy, a required proximity of life if we are to be our brother’s keeper, if we are to be sharpened as iron sharpens iron, if we are to be encouraging each other daily to press on.

New Wall Decoration

I took this idea from Tim Keller, who would say inaudibly to his congregration before he preached, "You are not my peace." He recognized that he had really longed to be liked by his people, but needed to find his peace in his acceptance by Christ and not by the approval of his congregation.

I've found that I've subtly been placing my peace and hope in internship prospects. Somehow I feel that if I get internship X, all in the world will be OK, that I will have peace.

I know this is untrue.

And so as I apply to each internship, as I walk into each interview, I will say, "You are not my peace - Christ is."

Jesus, you are the hope of the world.

[reflections on today's reading]

We didn’t need the death of all evil men.

We needed the death of a holy man, in whom there was no evil.

He became the ultimate and final sacrifice for our transgressions. He bore upon his shoulders, all the evil that has been done and will ever will be done

The world’s hope doesn’t reside in the death of evil people, but the death of a holy man…who crushed death and evil itself by coming back to life and giving us life.

Jesus, you are the hope of the world.