August 8th, 2006
The Tongue – Edition #36: Empty Spaces
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.”
Mother Teresa
Proverbs 14:21-23
He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy. Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness. All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Proverbs 24:1-4
Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company; for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble. By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.
Now, these are great scriptures by themselves… but add this scripture to the whole thing and it turns into something WAY more than what they already are.
John 14:1-4
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
So, am I just all talk and no work? Do I scoff at my neighbor and the hardship they bring on themselves, or am I kind to the needy? Wisdom builds the house that God has made. Through his understanding, it is established. And what am I in all this? I am a rare and beautiful treasure. I don’t feel that way sometimes. But I think about the room Christ is preparing is preparing for me…
John 8:31-42
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
They answered him, “We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
“Abraham is our father,” they answered.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
It’s through knowledge that the rooms in heaven are filled. Christ, in John 18, was telling the people that they had “no room” for God. They had “no room” for the knowledge.
John 8:37 room:
kho-reh'-o
To be in (give) space, that is, (intransitively) to pass, enter, or (transitively) to hold, admit (literally or figuratively): - come, contain, go, have, place, (can, be room to) receive.
What is a rare treasure?
Rare (adj.):
The Tongue – Edition #36: Empty Spaces
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.”
Mother Teresa
Proverbs 14:21-23
He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy. Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness. All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Proverbs 24:1-4
Do not envy wicked men, do not desire their company; for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble. By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.
Now, these are great scriptures by themselves… but add this scripture to the whole thing and it turns into something WAY more than what they already are.
John 14:1-4
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
So, am I just all talk and no work? Do I scoff at my neighbor and the hardship they bring on themselves, or am I kind to the needy? Wisdom builds the house that God has made. Through his understanding, it is established. And what am I in all this? I am a rare and beautiful treasure. I don’t feel that way sometimes. But I think about the room Christ is preparing is preparing for me…
John 8:31-42
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
They answered him, “We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
“Abraham is our father,” they answered.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
It’s through knowledge that the rooms in heaven are filled. Christ, in John 18, was telling the people that they had “no room” for God. They had “no room” for the knowledge.
John 8:37 room:
kho-reh'-o
To be in (give) space, that is, (intransitively) to pass, enter, or (transitively) to hold, admit (literally or figuratively): - come, contain, go, have, place, (can, be room to) receive.
What is a rare treasure?
Rare (adj.):
- Infrequently occurring; uncommon:
- Excellent; extraordinary.
Treasure (noun):
- Accumulated or stored wealth in the form of money, jewels, or other valuables.
- Valuable or precious possessions of any kind.
- One considered especially precious or valuable.
This is how God sees me. Do I believe it, though? I guess I should ask myself this question: Would God give up his only son (and right now, I have only one child, a son) for something just “run of the mill”? Would God give up his only boy for a “blue light special”? Or, to go to the opposite of a treasure, would God give up his child for something he hates, something he loathes? God hates sin, but he treasures me. He hates my sin, but he treasures me. God can separate the two, unlike me. I can’t see myself past my sin, but God can. So, am I just all talk and no walk? Am I going to put action to my words and fill the empty space in the room Christ is preparing for me? Do I see myself a valuable and precious possession of my LORD? I need to. I am a rarity and I need to have a talk that reflects that. I need to open this mouth of mine and speak like that of an extraordinary jewel in eyes of my LORD. This just FIRES me up. Johnny Out.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment