One Step Farther
One
may wonder what background or experience I have in writing about our God. My
wife helped me define my qualifications:
One
of my greatest attributes is still to be a child at heart. I love to play,
tease, and just enjoy being with children. Being able to come down to a child’s
level and look through their eyes. Jesus told us we must have a child like
faith and trust to be able to find our Lord, to be able to accept Him, to
understand what He would have us do.
An
agricultural background. Raising crops and livestock gives one feelings and
insights into many of Jesus’ parables. For these parables were about farming
practices of that day. The basic emotions are not that much different today.
One’s frustration of watching a favorite animal die while they are working with
all of their might to save it. The joy of saving that animal which shouldn’t
have made it through the night, but somehow lived, and then watching it grow
into a fine animal. Watching sadly as crops that had the perfect stand and were
ripe for harvest are ruined by weather or pests. Amazed, as a crop you didn’t
even believe would be worth harvesting unexpectedly receives a life giving
spring shower. This saving water produces the best crop you ever had. In
farming and ranching the odds seem stacked against you. For it often feels like
there are many more losses than joys one encounters. But despite this one
develops a loving orneriness that brings a true farmer, a devoted rancher out
at all hours, in inclement weather, with great risk, regardless of their profit
or loss. A loving orneriness that often has them doing things without the
knowledge of even why they are doing it. Except it is the right thing to do,
the work must be done, with the deep seeded hope that with the Lord’s help
there is one more miracle left. Then applying this emotion, this concept to the
Lord’s work.
My
next qualification is best described by a phrase my wife has, dumber than dirt.
Jesus did not chose the elite bible scholars of the day, He fought with their
humanistic legal ideas. Jesus chose as His disciples men that were mostly
fishermen, with a tax collector and some other vocations thrown in. They were
mostly uneducated, although one had some education and was made treasurer. His
name was Judas. There was another well educated man Jesus called to be His
apostle. His name was Paul and he was persecuting Christians until Christ
opened his eyes to the truth. Jesus chose unlikely men so all would know that
it was not man’s intelligence or ability that brought them to the Lord, but the
Holy Spirit opening their hearts to allow Jesus Christ to come in. No one has
ever said I was the sharpest tack in the box. It should be very obvious to all
that only the gift of the Holy Spirit has allowed me to meet and know my
Savior. That it is only when I push my pride away that He is able to use me. To
the extent one is humble is to the extent one is able to know Jesus Christ, to
do His work.
That
I am one of the wealthiest men in the world. Not in earthly riches, but because
of a gift that is far more valuable. I have sinned much and for these sins God
sent the most valuable possession the world has ever known, His own son Jesus
Christ, to die as atonement for them. I am beneficiary to this priceless gift
of grace which opens wide Heaven gates. No one could be any richer, but all can
share in this priceless gift.
That
I am a failure. One of the hardest lessons to learn is not to be part of this
world. We try to make our earthly dreams into reality, our successes. Our human
nature believes that if we do not attain our goals in some degree we are a
failure. There are the lucky few who reach their goals, but find nothing there
but emptiness. Sometimes it takes failure or emptiness to bring us to Jesus. To
shatter our human concept of expecting God to answer our prayers right now, the
way we want them answered. To dissolve the concept that we deserve earthly
blessings and notoriety for the great Christian life we live. For God’s way is
not man’s way. We must accept our Master’s plan for us, bringing all our
problems to Him, while patiently awaiting His answer. This answer may not
always be to our liking. But our Savior will always provide us with the faith
to carry on, will give us the ability to accomplish what He would have us do.
This could be anything from being a humble leader of Christ’s flock, to one
merely praising Him for all the blessings our Lord has given us. The next two
chapters try to put in perspective the Lord’s plan for us.
Humanism
Intent
and Reality