From
Romans 12:1-21
H,
There
is that old bile that rises in my throat and then may show itself in spiteful
looks or acts. The human soul is not carved to the shape of indignity. It is
not made to be put down. It is not wired to receive deception with joy or hurt
with magnanimity. This does not mean that it is innocent of these things done
to others. If it was then there would be no wounds and there would be no bile.
I have
to admit that my slights have been slight. There are people really wronged
walking about the earth. There are disasters and tragedies that are evidenced
in broken hearts and stilted souls. What can man do to me? The psalmist cries. A
lot, I should think. I know that is not his point. His point is something like
Christ said about “fear not who can destroy the body but who can destroy the
soul”. A wounded fractured soul is still in pain and so it is still alive. The eternal
value of it is unaffected by temporal events if it thrives in God. The psalmist
did not merely boast that man can do nothing to him or her. He boasted based on
a belief in God. He looked up and looked down and decided what was eternal and
what was not. He wisely decided that man was no match, even under the influence
of the great foe, for the glory of God.
Perhaps
this is something lost in the modern church. Everything is an insult to us. We
are angry if someone does not immediately bow to our greatness. We are upset if
we are not at the epicenter of things. Everything wounds us and so our witness
is small. We do not carry the marks of Christ lightly. We are not like them
that went joyfully to their deaths for the love of God and (that other)
country. We are not recognized by some, in hulking language, “puny human!” and
our joy is made incomplete. With bile in my mouth, I say we all need to grow
up.
When
we give ourselves to God we see that things are different. The world may not
change but we surely must. We cannot force this change any more than we can
force the weather but it will come upon us and we will respond to it. The
change in altitude will change everything else. We are at a height where
everything else is small and the glory of God is sure. We are too quick, in the
now, to want to get ahead in life as the
world sees it and make a mark on a fading earth. If you believe, then you know
that no one will remember your bank account in eternity or that you changed Nigeria
or made sliced bread better. These last two are worthy causes and done with the
right heart are forms of worship, much like anything done in God. Yet, when
made the focus of any life are limited instances where man is being man and
will rise no further. The soul is the thing. The soul you nurture in God and
encourage in others is where God rates the thing. We give our all to Him and in
doing so we do much more than our secular hearts could ever do and for others
too. We are that ‘living’ sacrifice made for ‘greater works’ because the time
has come and the harvest is full but the hands are few. When I think of this I have
no time for bile or anger. I barely remember what he said and what she said. My
own amateur attempts at sin fall down and plead help because something greater
has taken the place of that great need. It is a sacrifice worth making because
the first one who did it now sits at the right hand of God. Where the earth,
though it may not seem so, is planted and being planted under His feet. He will
come to collect. ‘Soon’, we are told. He is first preparing a place for you and
I to sit as former lambs in those heavenly places.
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