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One more boxing dayWednesday, January 4, 2012
1 John 3:9 In God's loving commitment to me, He keeps on planting. The hardness of heart I experience doesn't deter him. His willingness to assume the best about my heart lets me find joy in the morning. "You belong to me, David. My seed is within you. Therefore I will remove your sin from you as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103)." The lag time between God's forgiveness and my heart-awareness of it is less of a problem when I get my theology straight. God's in charge here; I'm not. My evil-ness is still present, but it's only a shadow of God's great light shining through me. More from Psalm 103: "He knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust ... His salvation extends to the children's children of those who are faithful to his covenant." C. S. Lewis' insistence that God is "not safe" does not make him dangerous. The truly dangerous forces in my life are my ego and pride. They build me up at the expense of others and insist on a place in the created world that I don't deserve and can't inhabit except in denial. I am just a poor boy with a story seldom told. I squander my resistance, run scared, lay low and lonesome. In the quiet of a railway station my thoughts pound up against the iron rails in my heart, "I am leaving, I am leaving ..." But the Fighter still remains. God, your goodness and your strength overwhelms my weakness and my sin. How can I not turn to you? As I do, I discover your tenderness and compassion, and that your love remains Forever. You will always fight for me. http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/the-boxer-lyrics-paul-simon/52beb0f5d02f77a54825698a0011170c |
Jesus told a parable about seed planted on several soils, some harder and less fertile than others. My soil seems to change from day to day. I don't always receive God's seed the way I want to, the way He wants me to.