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Survival of the fitThursday, March 25, 2010
Hebrews 10:10 This is all we have ever known. We never got to live in the world God made and called Eden, where death and sin do not destroy. Where the lion and lamb lay down together, and even the snaky scary slimy serpent is not a threat to a baby at play in the grass fields of the Lord. Struggling against each other instead of together, we have had to get stronger and stronger. The strongest gets to be king and more importantly, stay alive. But this position can only be held by constant vigilance against challenge. What kind of life is that? I am far more afraid to lose what I've gained than I am while I try to attain it. And besides, despite all my best intentions, life just doesn't last that long. Since the genesis of genealogy, every member of every generation has been replaced by the next. I think that will keep happening, to the kings and queens and all the pretty horses. And also to me. God's story throughout the Bible calls us to imagine and reach for the world He did create. The New Testament describes the way He'll get us there, not through anything we do but by being made "fit." In Hebrews 10:10 the Greek word translated "fit" is a derivation of "hagios." This reflects the Hebrew word "qadosh," which means purified, set apart, distinct. Purification. Movie stills come to mind, pictures of wearing white robes and blood sacrifice. Not so much. This picture in Hebrews is more about consequences: Jesus did the giving, and now I do the receiving. That's all there is to it. That makes me fit. Not that this receiving is easy in a cut-throat world. Jesus tells me I'll have to carry my "cross" of suffering like he carried his. Suffering means being out of control - hardly the everyday goal of someone striving to be king. But Jesus calls me to it. That's essentially what receiving means. Lose your life to gain it. There within that puzzle lies the peace of God that surpasses understanding. Lord, your patience with me seems so complete. Make me patient with myself, as I learn to follow you from life to death to life. |
In nature there seems to be a hierarchy of strength and power, and the fittest members of the animal and plant kingdoms make it to the top of the food chain to be crowned kings and queens. Entropy does its thing on every body, though, and even the kings and queens eventually die.