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- Written by: Don Goulding
You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me, but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life. John 5:39-40 (NETFull)
When I was working in Albania, a small boy couldn’t reach the table from his chair. I slid a thick Bible under the lad to boost him a few inches.
“How dare you use the Word of God to sit on,” an Albanian missionary said with wide eyes.
Sufficiently rebuked, I replaced the Bible with a pillow. It made me wonder which was more sacred, the paper, ink and leather of the Bible or the child who sat on it. I recalled that the living word of God, Jesus, allowed children to sit on him.
The Bible is the complete and inerrant written word of God and as such its truth must govern my faith. However, I must not allow the Bible to become something it is not. It is not a lucky talisman and it is not the object of my adoration. The truth the Bible contains is to be cherished, not the textual media itself.
Coming from a culture in which we tout our degrees of advanced learning, I catch myself idolizing bookish knowledge about Jesus instead of Jesus himself. He wants so much more than my head learning or rote obedience. He wants to saturate me to the very core.
On close examination every book in the Bible points to Jesus Christ. Genesis promises one to come who will crush Satan. That’s Jesus. The books of the law introduce the need for a sacrificial lamb—Jesus again. All the poetry, prophets, and of course the New Testament speak, at least symbolically, of Jesus. The Bible is a miraculous blessing because the Holy Spirit uses it to carry me to Jesus who is the true and full word of God.
The best way I know to respect Bibles, crosses, angels and whatever else points to Jesus is to not stop short at worship of them, but to go all the way to Jesus himself so that I may have life—full, eternal, really fun life.
Prayer: Jesus, Holy Word of God, consume me.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. Genesis 2:19 (NETFull)
An African farmer introduced me to his three elephants—Mary, Boxy and Shorty. They were characters who snatched the man’s hat away in a game of keep-away.
You can tell an elephant’s personality by how it uses its trunk. They greet each other by intertwining trunks and even have special trunk displays for courtship and mother-child interactions. Some twist around objects to the left, others to the right.
As I reached into Mary’s mouth to lay oranges on her tongue, Boxy and Shorty groped inside my coat with their trunks for more fruit. These were outgoing, curious friends and it was a pleasure to make their acquaintance.
In the Garden of Eden an anointed relationship was inaugurated between animals and humans. We were to co-govern God’s wooly, scaly and feathered creatures. Instead, we brought curses into the world and our relationship with animals went topsy-turvy. They no longer enjoyed our protection but became our sacrificial offerings, or the exact opposite, our gods.
Even today we seem to use animals for sport hunting or worship them under the guise of domesticated pets. The balance conferred on us in Eden disappeared into a gray fog. In my lifetime, one half of the world’s wild animals died due to human destruction of habitat. I don’t want the blood of that crime on my hands. I must rediscover my calling to godly husbandry.
Living in the post crucifixion of Jesus era, I have a chance to right a few wrongs. I can boycott unsustainable harvests, speak against animal cruelty, and use care that I don’t spend more on my pets than I do on God’s kingdom. If I’m truly filled with the Spirit of Christ, he’ll show me a great many ways to reverse this double-edged war against creation.
To Mary, Boxy and Shorty, I want to say, “I’ve been on the wrong side of your suffering. Now let me love and protect you.”
Prayer: Father, help me care for your creation.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms! Close your doors behind you! Hide for a little while, until his angry judgment is over! Isaiah 26:20 (NETFull)
I watched a Nigerian weaverbird gather leaf strands from a palm tree. Over, under, over, under, the yellow marvel knit the strips into his nest. At the bottom of the six inch globe was a small entry. A hundred nests dangled like Christmas tree ornaments and kept birdie families snug against the storms and predators outside.
God tells his people to hide in their rooms from his wrath against the world. This is not an injunction to become a recluse from the lost. It’s a warning to keep our hearts protected for our true love.
Earthly life threatens to consume me, both its lures and its pain. Nature’s beauty, agonizing diseases, technology, relationships, politics, wars, births—there is so much to digest.
Jesus says, “Let me be your nest, your place of safety away from the mayhem swirling around you. Withdraw your heart into friendship with me while I deal with everything on the outside.”
I’m invited into a quiet yet passionate interior life with Jesus. By faith, I must let Jesus weave a hushed sanctuary, 360 degrees around me, against anything this life can dish out, good or bad. Each new event is an occasion to curl up next to Jesus, rest in his peace and grow in the fullness of love.
So much of what is said or goes on around me is never meant to come inside the nest. I must trust Jesus to whisper those few things I need in order to serve him and thrive. All the rest is marked to be destroyed by the wrath of God, so leave it outside.
Prayer: Jesus, hide my heart from the uproar of the world.