Friday, November 19, 2010
Finding Joy
Milt Stanley links to Ray Ortlund on Proverbs 8:
Joy, deep joy and happiness comes when we stop fighting our created nature.
We are created to be God;s creatures - wholly and in submission. But here is the thing - when we finally do submit, we learn that it does not feel like the denial of self that submission usually feels like - it feels like an accomplishment of self because we are finally becoming that which we were intended to be from the beginning of time.
We have such a poor view of submission for two important reasons. For one there is the inherent selfishness that is our own sin. But secondly it is because we have submitted to earthly powers and people that have been such crappy bosses. Whether it be our bosses at work, our parents, our teachers, so many that we find we must submit to abuse our submission.
But ultimately we must submit tot he perfect Lord of creation - He who is without flaw, He who can make our submission our freedom. Therefore, it is also important to have a clear view of just who God is. We have to understand that we do not understand - we have to accept on faith that He is so much more, so much better than even the best we have ever experienced.
Final point - as Christian leaders - and those who call people to submit to Christ, we must do everything we can to become good models of submissibility. When the church, in any form or guise, abuses the submission it accepts on God's behalf we stand in the way of those that would submit to God. It is a deep evil and becasue we are sinners we cannot avoid it, but we must humbly confess it ad constantly be on guard.
Wisdom is not a nag. Wisdom breaks through to happiness. God shaped the pre-creation, “without form and void” mess into a world of genius and joy. We have every reason, in the doctrine of creation, to say to God our Creator-Savior, “Here is my messy life. Please re-create me.” If we will, he will, and happily, to the praise of the glory of his grace in Christ.I am reminded that sins greatest triumph is not the things we do, but who it makes us think we are. We stay away from the wisdom literature becasue WE think it a nag - but it is not, it is advice on how best to be who we were created to be.
Joy, deep joy and happiness comes when we stop fighting our created nature.
We are created to be God;s creatures - wholly and in submission. But here is the thing - when we finally do submit, we learn that it does not feel like the denial of self that submission usually feels like - it feels like an accomplishment of self because we are finally becoming that which we were intended to be from the beginning of time.
We have such a poor view of submission for two important reasons. For one there is the inherent selfishness that is our own sin. But secondly it is because we have submitted to earthly powers and people that have been such crappy bosses. Whether it be our bosses at work, our parents, our teachers, so many that we find we must submit to abuse our submission.
But ultimately we must submit tot he perfect Lord of creation - He who is without flaw, He who can make our submission our freedom. Therefore, it is also important to have a clear view of just who God is. We have to understand that we do not understand - we have to accept on faith that He is so much more, so much better than even the best we have ever experienced.
Final point - as Christian leaders - and those who call people to submit to Christ, we must do everything we can to become good models of submissibility. When the church, in any form or guise, abuses the submission it accepts on God's behalf we stand in the way of those that would submit to God. It is a deep evil and becasue we are sinners we cannot avoid it, but we must humbly confess it ad constantly be on guard.
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