Opus 2026-404: A Principle, not a Blasphemy

When Jesus was telling the disciples that He had to leave, but He would send the Holy Spirit, He told them that this was necessary.  I believe the point He was making was that in the flesh He was only one man, and could only be one place at a time.  When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, He was able to be anywhere and everywhere.  The idea that the disciples and other converts would spread throughout the whole world demonstrates that.

Now we take that biblical principal and apply it to daily life.  I’m not taking the theological principle.  I’m not saying that any human being is equal with Jesus.  I’m talking about management.

Someday Donald Trump will be gone from office.  We have seen how he is only one man and how the Rino Republicans have worked overtime to keep him from being successful.  In spite of that he has gotten a lot done.  But again he is only one man.  When he is out of the White House, the MAGA movement will be turned over to people who believe in the same principles that he did.  His influence will wane but his legacy will hopefully spread.

We have seen how one man or one organization is limited in what it can do.  What we need to consider is how much change can be brought about if all Americans who believe in the country will begin to be MAGA in their everyday habits.  I am not talking politics alone, although that will be a part of it.  What we need to do is stop spending our money at businesses that are out to destroy us.  We should not need a formal boycott of broadcast media.  Thinking Americans should have already stopped watching.  That will cause ad revenues to decline.  That will force them to either go broke or change.  Apply that to local businesses.  I have stopped shopping at Texas businesses that put up “no gun” signs.  I drink store brand soft drinks rather than national brands.  Put your wallet where your mouth is.

I am serious about my religious beliefs.  If I was attending a church that flew a rainbow flag I would leave immediately.  If I heard support for abortion from the pulpit it would be the last I heard from that source.

The country can be reclaimed.  It will probably not be overnight by a Constitutional Convention or civil uprising.  It can be if the majority of decent people would extend their decency to every area of their life.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-391: I Like That

One of the subterranean channels of thought that I always have going concerns the fate of the large part of the human population that seemed to have no opportunity to respond to the good news of Jesus and the hope that is in him.  I must confess that it doesn’t seem fair or just that people who never heard the gospel should be doomed.

The easy part of this is to answer for those who were raised in the biblical tradition before Jesus.  They did not know about the cross.  They did not know about the resurrection.  Their knowledge is very limited.  They do, however, know the God of the Bible, or at least have the opportunity to know the God of the Bible.  So I think it’s pretty easy to come up with some kind of rationale how people like Moses, Abraham and Ruth can know eternal life.

What about those who know nothing.

What becomes clear to me is that this is one of those areas where I must walk in faith.  God has not explained to me how a peasant raising rice in a remote Chinese province who has never heard of Jesus and has never heard any teaching about the afterlife other than vague, ancestral traditions is going to go to hell from a lack of knowledge.  I say I walk in faith because I believe that God has it all worked out, but hasn’t filled me in.  I can come up with all kinds of speculations.  My imagination can run wild.  I realize that that is just speculation and imagination.

There is an answer, I just don’t know what it is.  I expect that when I enter into eternity, it will either become abundantly clear to me, God will sit down and explain it to me in such a way that I nod my head and say that’s obvious, or I may just forget all about it in the glory at the moment.  I don’t like the idea of eternal damnation.  I don’t have to like it.  Last time I checked my emails God had not asked me for my approval or my recommendations.  I do believe that when I finally hear the details with my unencumbered mind, I will say, “I like that.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-212: Monday Pulpit: Defining Hope

On Sunday the word “hope” stood out in one of the scriptures referenced. A quick look this morning could not identify the text but the point made is worth repeating.

When Christians talk about hope we run into the wall of common English. To most people hope is what you express when you buy a lottery ticket. It is the feeling you get when the “low fuel” light comes on. It is a wish, a fervent desire. We all know what it is to have dreams.

Christian hope is better expressed with the word “expectation” or “assurance”. That is an important distinction. I think of a recent conflict in our church. We did not know how it would work out. We know what we wished to see but our focus was on the assurance we had of God’s will being done. In the past year we have had two ladies struggling with cancer. One died. One has recovered. Both were sources of joy to those around them because they had the hope within them.

Look at our political world. We are so focused on Iran that we forget the aggressive nature of their Muslim beliefs. We forget the spread of Islam into the west and the simultaneous pressure of Marxism. We often wonder if there are any political voices that are in tune with what God wants to see. In the midst of that we have hope.

Historically there have been many times of disaster and chaos. We may be headed into another one of those. It is already there for much of the world. In the midst of that we need to never let go of the hope that is in us. God has worked through rebellious leaders and decadent societies before and He will do so again. Our job is to be salt and light and to be faithful.

One verse that keeps resonating in my mind is,

1 Peter 3:15 (NASB95) but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

Let us live in hope, not of political progress or military victory, but in the assurance that we know the God of the universe.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-191: Monday Pulpit: Always an Escape Hatch

Sunday’s sermon was from Numbers 14. As usual my mind wandered as the pastor’s focus left the actual text. As he had read the entire chapter in preparation for leaving it I tried to follow along and pay attention to what it actually said. It was a narrative that I was familiar with but I find that if I pay attention I will see things that have escaped me over the years.

I was not disappointed. The story I have always heard and repeated myself was that God declared Israel would wander in the wilderness until the living generation died off. They would not live to see the promised land, except for Joshua and Caleb. That is not exactly what it says. Read these two verses and see if you identify the same escape clause that I see.

Numbers 14:22-23 (KJV) 22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; 23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

At first quick read it seems like a blanket condemnation, but look at the qualifiers. In verse 22 you have the conditional phrase, “and not hearkened” which leaves the door open for some to want to trust God. In the next verse you see the same pattern when the doom is limited to those the “provoked” Him.

I find hope in that. Often in life we are a small voice in a mighty wave of opinion. No one seems to hear us. We are striving against the tide but make no difference in the flood. Disaster awaits. I wonder how many times in the history of Israel that pattern was repeated. Remember the 7,000 who had not bowed to Baal. Think of the repeated use of the concept of the faithful remnant. My desire is that I would be in that pocket of grace that God seems to provide for the faithful.

So join the minority. Be faithful. God may have wrath ahead for our world if there is not revival but He will provide a way for us.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-180: Order of Worship

As part of my Easter morning worship I read through the four accounts given in the gospels.  Each one tells a slightly different story.  Some differences are minor, others might be significant.  Some details are in all.  They all agree on the one salient point: The grave was empty.

I found a short passage that stood out to me.

John 20:8-9 (NASB95) 8 So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

We assume that the “other disciple”, who is never named, was John himself.  We can assume that he is giving a first hand account of his experience.  What struck me was the two verbs involving the empty grave.  First he “believed” and later it says they did not understand.

How can you believe if you don’t understand?  That was the first question I had.  Then I noticed that the belief was an act of an individual and the understanding seemed to refer to the disciples as a whole.

I think both are important.  It is possible that some people will do a lot of study and be led to belief by the path laid out.  We all need some knowledge or we would not know we need to believe.  The Holy Spirit needs something to work with.  At the same time we cannot wait for that moment when we know everything and have great understanding.  For most of us we believe first and then learn all the details.

The key is the willingness to respond to the call of God.  Make this celebration of the resurrection a red letter day in your life.  Rejoice, pure and simple or repent and then rejoice.  I have a feeling God will settle for either.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-178: Just a Reminder

He is Risen!

Take a moment to rejoice. Take another moment to rejoice.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-176: What a Difference…

I remember a song that went,

What a difference a day makes,
Twenty four little hours.

Think of the difference between the disciples on Saturday and how they should have felt on Sunday.  It took them a bit of time to really accept the resurrection and it did not take hold until Pentecost, but what a difference it made.

We are in the midst of that Saturday.  Good Friday was the crucifixion.  Sunday was the Resurrection.  We are remembering that never-never land of gloom and doom. But we have the benefit of hindsight.

What a difference two thousand years makes.  We know about the resurrection.  We know about the victory over death that represents.  Now all we have to worry about are taxes.  We are no longer in the upper room.  But too often we act like we are still there.

We may be forced back to that if we don’t wake up and trim the roses.  We are allowing our culture to push us out of the public square.  We are submitting to the silencing of the Marxists.  We forget that the victory is already ours.

So spend some time thinking about what it cost God to provide deliverance.  Think about the price Jesus paid.  He did not die for us to put our light under a bushel.  As we move toward a reminder of the empty grave be looking for a chance to share the hope that is in you.  If you don’t have that hope then ask yourself, “Why not?”

Homo unius libri 

Opus 2026-117: Survival Virtue

One of the rabbit trails that run through my head starts with a verse in Romans,

Romans 11:26 (KJV) And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

This generates a question, “Who or what is Israel?”  This leads to the theory that the Israel mentioned here is not everyone throughout history with Jewish DNA but the true Israel who are highlighted earlier in the book as Paul quotes Isaiah,

Romans 9:27 (KJV) Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

What spoke to me today was a verse I read,

1 Kings 18:3 (KJV) And Ahab called Obadiah, which [was] the governor of [his] house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly:

Ahab was one of the most evil of the kings of Israel.  He was the one married to Jezebel.  Obadiah is called out as a faithful follower of God.  In spite of that he was allowed to serve as a high official in Ahab’s administration.  I found that encouraging.

Obadiah represents one form of God’s faithful remnant.  In this case he was in the middle of a pagan court and allowed to live his life.  I am not trying to make this a promise for us but it does point out that being faithful to God does not automatically produce a death sentence.

What does the future hold?  If the church does not stand up and become an agent of revival then it will not be a happy ending.  I think this points out that it will still pay off to be faithful.  It may be that when the evil elite gains control they will need a few honorable people they can trust. That might be you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-107: It Is not Monday

As I sat on the front porch in the midst of a mild drizzle a line from a song came to mind “rainy day Mondays always get me down…”  I really don’t remember the words to much of the rest of the song.  I can hum a few bars and I remember enjoying it, but the thought came to me today about how it’s Saturday, it’s raining, and I’m enjoying every drop of it.

It’s amazing what a difference in perspective will give you.  As I am at the end of my life and rejoicing in the blessings of God, the rain is a refreshing break in the heat of Texas.  The rain is a renewing touch upon a parched earth.  The steady, yet ever varied sound of raindrops is soothing.  Why would that ever get me down?

I guess I’m not lost in a love triangle.  I didn’t have a picnic canceled.  My baseball game didn’t get rained out.  I don’t remember what the singer was upset about.

That old saying about one man’s trash being another man’s treasure comes to mind as I watch the rain from my predawn porch.  I see the hand of God.  The singer saw the loneliness.

Take your pick.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-058: Another Tragedy

The world fell apart again this morning, at least briefly.

I woke up in the dark and decided it was time to get on with my day.  I sat up, picked up my glasses, and as I started to put them on, they fell apart.  It was a moment of crisis.  If you wear glasses you may have experienced the insecurity that comes when you can’t find them.  How does a person who cannot see find his glasses?  What do you do when you have them deconstruct in your hands?

I got over it.  I moved on.  Things came back into focus.

It is so easy to lose our perspective on things.  I had an echocardiogram recently and this week I will see my cardiologist to find out the results.  He has not called me yet so I guess I have a few days to live, but what will he tell me when I go to my appointment?  Will it be, “We could not find anything,” or will it be, “You have six months to live.”  That could be a real crisis.

There are so many things that could go wrong but won’t.  Since I know that God is in charge there are also many things that I don’t bother worrying about.  He has my back, as they say.  It doesn’t mean I won’t face a real tragedy, but it means that it will not really be a tragedy.  It is a great way to live.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-001: Three D Vision

There are three realities, at least, that are totally beyond my control, and yet are waiting to transform my life.  Actually, I think they have already transformed my life, but they still remain beyond my control or ability to influence.

The first, of course would be grace.  I define grace as God’s love in action.  It is not something that we can control in any way shape or form.  It is the act of God.  That is the glory of,

(Eph 2:8 KJV)  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Grace is the beginning of our hope.  It is believing that God is willing to extend His omnipotent power toward our salvation and eternal destiny.  I cannot pressure Him.  I cannot force Him.  He extends it, purely by His choice.

The second reality goes by a different names, but let’s just say the blood.  You can reference the substitutional atonement.  I’m sure there are many other names for it.  The point is that our salvation, even allowing for grace, is based upon the fact that Jesus died on the cross as the perfect Lamb of God making the perfect sacrifice to wipe out the blot of sin on our lives.  Because of the character of God and the fact that He is a just God, He can’t just wave His celestial wand and say, “It’s good.  Go in peace.”  Sin requires death.  We can’t pay that debt by our death.  Therefore God sent His son to pay the price.  Again, there are many ways of defining it and explaining it, but the reality is still there.

The third reality that totally transforms even that assurance is the resurrection of Jesus.  I’m talking here about a physical resurrection, not just some kind of spiritual fantasy.  Jesus rose from the dead.  He conquered death.  That conquest is a promise to us that we have any internal hope.  Paul explains how vital this is,

(1Co 15:17 KJV)  And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

People in different theological persuasions may interpret these a bit differently, I think they would put them together in a different way, they might even insist on adding some other elements.  Good for them as long as they accept these three is being essential.

As far as I’m concerned, the first two have already been applied to my life and I live in expectation of the third.

What a way to enter a new year.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-613: Does God Celebrate New Years?

For that matter does God pay any attention to what we consider to be the new year?  I don’t see him celebrating, that’s not the right word.  I’m sure He’s aware that we are marking the day as having some significance, but He is also aware of some of the computer games we play and He is not impressed.

I would venture a guest that He looks upon some of the ways in which we celebrate with raised eyes eyebrows.  Hopefully it doesn’t get to the point of throwing lightning bolts or sending tornadoes.

Why do we celebrate anyway?  Why is the end of the year considered an excuse to have a party?   Most of the memes that I see about the baby new year replacing the old man on his way out have the idea of being glad it’s gone.  Many of them don’t forecast any optimism about the year coming.

Why do we celebrate?

I think much of it’s just that we look for any good excuse to have a party.  Those of us who are introverts are happy if we are left alone with our books and our four walls.  As long as your party doesn’t spill over into our world, copacetic.

As you look back over the year, don’t get too depressed about your mistakes.  Mistakes are there for us to learn from.  If you made serious mistakes, it may take a while to dig out but the future it’s full of hope.

May you have a blessed year ahead of you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-610: Oh, the Memories

Psalm 37 is too long to print here, but it came to my mind today.  It was a scripture that a man named Earl Lee used to preach on once a year.  His sermon was called The Cycle of Victorious Living.  You may have heard about it.  You may have listened to someone else who stole the idea, borrow the idea or simply hit on it by coincidence.  It’s a marvelous formula for living life.

The point that Pastor Lee kept repeating was “fret not”.  You’ll find that in the first verse then, as you look down the page if you have the King James Version you’ll see certain verbs at the beginning of verses in the first part of the Psalm.  It’s a great pattern to follow.

Trust,
Delight,
Commit,
Rest.

I’m not sure that that’s the exact order that he presented it.  Every year the sermon was fresh to us.  I don’t know if he used exactly the same outline or worked through it again, but it was something to look forward to.

After each point he would remind us to fret not.  Ultimately that seemed to be the key to making the whole process work.

I don’t know if you need this today, but it certainly helped my sun come up.

Blessings.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-602: Vanilla Survives Ben & Jerry’s

Who would have thought that after all the attention getting flavors that Ben & Jerry’s came up with that vanilla ice cream would still survive?  For that matter I wonder if strawberry is still the favorite flavor in the country?  How can this be?  I just had a cup of vanilla ice cream last night from a Texas company and enjoyed every bite of it.

Really good things, the basics, the pure stuff will always endure past gimmicks and the flavors of the month.  That’s why I can continue reveling in worshiping the one true God, the great I AM.

You see God never changes in his basic character and attributes.  I know as I look at that character and those attributes, I continually find new depths to look into or old shallows that refresh and renew.  There is a dynamic here.  I can just walk out on the porch in the dark sit down with my coffee cup, look up at the sky and say “Good morning Lord,” and know that all is well.

There is a gospel song that starts off,

What a fellowship,
What a joy Divine.
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Notice that is not a question but a declaration. I plan on making this another year of leaning.

Happy new year.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-592: Advent Calendar: Day 23, The Joyful Hope

If your church has the tradition of lighting the Advent candles you know that one of them represents hope.  Different churches observe the hope candle on different weeks.  Hope is one of the great concepts of the coming of the Christ Child.

I do not associate hope with Christmas in isolation.  It calls for hope because this is just the first chapter in the Book of The Word Became Flesh.  The place where hope takes over the narrative is in the empty tomb.  I don’t think that many people associate the full manger with the empty tomb but that is the purpose of the whole process.  The physical resurrection of Jesus is the assurance we have that there is more to eternity than having our sins forgiven.  There is a continued awareness of whom we are and a fellowship with the Incarnate One. 

So Merry Christmas and happy eternity.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-563: A Song of Desperation

I’m sitting in my room with the lights out, gazing out into the pre-dawn greatest.  I have read in  Psalms.  I have read in Proverbs.  I’ve spent time contemplating things of God; now I am just enjoying quiet Christmas music in the background as I look out the window.  I noticed that a song has come on my stereo, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas…”  It’s a song I really enjoy because I know what Christmas is about.

What if you don’t know what Christmas is all about?  What kind of song does this become?  It becomes a song of wishful thinking, daydreaming about the good old days, and the vain hope that tomorrow will be better.  As I found myself listening to the words instead of just the Christmas emotion that they generate, I noticed that there was nothing in the song about a baby being born in a manger.  There was nothing about God becoming man.  There was nothing about the hope that is in us.  The closest I could come was that line which says “If the fates allow.”  That’s not much to hope on.

Since I know about the incarnation and how the virgin birth was the beginning of the path to the cross and that that led to the resurrection, I can find great joy in this song.  It’s not because of this song itself.  The song is really just the song of desperation when you think about it, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t rejoice in the creativity of the writer because we know why we can have a merry little Christmas.

I hope for you that the cross means as much to you as the manger and that the empty tune is less significant than the creche.

Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-551: Advent Calendar: Day 3. Abraham

We can follow the idea of the seed down through the ages, but Paul summarizes it when we get to the book of Galatians.

Galatians 3:16 (KJV) Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Jesus was the promise that was given to Eve.  Each generation would assign one person to carry the promise.  If you look at the genealogies of Matthew and Luke, you see a list of how this was passed down until it came to Jesus.

Christmas was the fulfillment of a millennium old promise given by God in the garden of Eden.  It wasn’t a later addition.  It wasn’t an adaptation.  It wasn’t an afterthought.  When sin entered the world God provided the promise for a cure.  Christmas is that promise.  Jesus is that cure.

Rejoice and merry Christmas

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-528: Brain Storming

Tonight (written Wednesday) I’m going to a meeting at church and the goal of the meeting is to brainstorm where we want to go in the future.  There are a number of things that will be on the agenda, if there is an agenda.  First will be a concern with reaching younger people and trying to get young people into the church.  The second one will be a building program.  That is needed.  Beyond that I’m not sure where it will go or what direction.

I will need to sit on myself quite regularly because I tend to talk too much.  I have a lot of ideas, and am too critical at what others come up with.  So my challenge will be to listen and if there’s something that I just can’t hold back to go ahead and suggested.

What is going to make it difficult is the feeling expressed by the pastor that they don’t want to change anything.  Now when it comes to doctrine and the emphasis on scripture, I have no problem.  That should not be on the board at all.  When it comes to style of worship, he is big on hymns.  I think that’s a positive point but it’s not just that he’s big on hymns; it’s that he doesn’t let us sing anything which is not in the hymnal.  I find the typical contemporary worship incredibly boring.  I don’t think it reaches young people.  But then that’s the opinion of old guy.  However, there is a fair amount of what you would call contemporary music, which is quite singable, theologically solid, and worth adding to our worship service.  It should be a mixture of both hymns and the good contemporary stuff.

Then you have the issue of people in positions of leadership.  We have a pianist, who is very skilled.  She is an excellent pianist.  I have a CD that her husband gave me of what she did one time.  I’m told she never had to go back and do anything twice except when a motorcycle went by and somehow got through there sound barriers.  She is really good.  Or I might say she used to be really good but her skills have been going down seriously.  She’s in her 80s.  She has always played slow.  And the choir mentions they regularly trying to get her to go faster and she just won’t do it.  I don’t know if it’s lack of ability or lack of desire.  I know that you can use hymns and they can really lift people up but only if you sing them at the proper tempo.

As far as the building program goes, yes, we need to do something because we are at that point where people will stop coming because it gets too crowded.  My background tells me that’s about 80% of capacity.  My suggestion before they start a building program, would be to go to double services.  I don’t think that they’re open to that.  We’ll see.

So tonight I’m going to try to get there.  I’m going to try to be positive.  I know that God wants to use this church.  We’ll see if we’re open to it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-419: AM and PM

I am not talking about time but Times:  Ante Muerte and Post Muerte.  Although I would not put the murder of Charlie Kirk on the level of the battles of Hastings or Tours, it is going to make a difference.

I am still surprised that I don’t feel rage over the phlegm in the face this represents.  I may feel a bit of anger but my predominate emotion is sadness.  I have a great sadness for his family and what they have lost.  That is enough to demand blood.  I also have a great sadness for the fools who think that the destruction of America will bring in days of dancing in the sprinklers and riding unicorns.  It won’t.  It will bring back the Dark Ages with a vengeance.  What these twinkies don’t understand is that when they are no longer useful idiots the Marxist overlords will send them to the Gulag.  If they are lucky they will just be shot.  They will not be living in the villas on the hill separated from the smelly rabble.  They will become the midden of Marxism.

In a sense I am not sorry for Charlie.  As a believer I know that he has moved on into eternity and God is probably explaining the plan to him.  We have questions, and rightfully so, but we also have faith and confidence in the big picture.  I think that if Charlie could sit down with us now he would be the least surprised at his death.  I think he knew it was inevitable.  I remember listening to one of his meetings at a college as he explained to one of his antagonists that he received death threats all the time.  I think he said there had been two attempts on his life.  He may have hoped God would spare him but he knew there was a target painted on his chest at every rally.  He still continued to serve God and America by going out in joy.

Keep in mind that the goal of terrorism is to get people to stop living their lives and huddle in fear.  They would love it if we were afraid to go out in public.  They would rejoice if we wanted the government to do something.  Pardon the conspiracy theorist in me but I am not sure that the deep state wasn’t involved in this some way.  Those are wins for evil.

What would cause celestial fist bumps from Charlie is if we go out more boldly, stand taller and speak up more powerfully.  If you need a tutorial on how to do that, go watch some of his interactions on college campuses.  I would always express to people how amazed I was at his courtesy and ability to be polite to people who were obviously deficient in truth and ability.  If we need a motto for the morning I would suggest,

(1Pe 3:14-7 NAS77) But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

Go in grace and peace.  Keep in mind that our hope is not in Charlie but in the Jesus that Charlie served.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-344: The Spark

If I were a peasant toiling in the fields of China during the Ming dynasty, if I were a peasant harvesting rice in the Mekong Delta centuries ago, if I were a slave working in the fields of Rome, if I were a slave digging diamonds out of the mines in South Africa, if I were a slave hoeing cotton in Alabama, I would still be a human being created in the image of God.  I would be someone who was born with that spark within me, which made me more than an animal.

Can that spark be destroyed?  I would hope not, but I’m sure that it can be at least diminished or smothered to the point where we don’t know that it’s there.  What dulls a person to the point where they see no purpose in life?  Why would a peasant farmer in medieval Europe get out of bed in the morning and go to the fields knowing that there was no hope for the future?  When I was working a job that was nowhere near being a slave, I still had to stop at the door to my children’s room.  I still had to look in and remind myself why I was going to work instead of just finding a stump to sit on.

Then, why do so many people go through life with eyes dimmed to the point of being totally unaware of the potential around them?  It seems there are millions of young people who have been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, have all the opportunities and comforts that life could offer, have the world open in front of them, and they bury themselves in some kind of addiction.  The Bible talks about getting drunk and being addicted to alcohol, and seems to understand that if your life is pointless and hopeless, then getting drunk is reasonable.

Proverbs 31:6-7 (KJV) 6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.  Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

What about those who are responsible?  Such an avenue is denied.

Here’s where I have to get theological.  In John we are told that there are some people who embrace the light and some people who embrace darkness.  It seems to be their personal choice which way they go.  By in large those who embrace darkness end up doing so because they want to be the light instead of allowing God to be the light.  Eventually their light is very dim, and they can’t see a way out.  While God is willing to forgive and restore, they are not willing to humble themselves to that point.  It makes me think of the joke about some people caught in a flood and trapped on the top of their house praying that God will deliver them.  They refuse several opportunities to get out and then when they drown, they ask God why He didn’t save them.  God answers He sent several people, but they refused all of them.  It seems God did not do it their way.

If you are a dog, a cat, a cow, or a lion you do not have the spark that represents the image of God.  If you are a human being, no matter how beaten down, the spark is there.  Reach for it.  Know that it comes from Almighty God.  Turn to him if you’re in a time of need.  He has a long track record of answering.

homo unius libri