Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article Educated imagination Thursday, February 26, 2009 Deuteronomy 29:29, 30:15-20 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law ... See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you ... But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed ... This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life. As Solomon wisely wrote, "God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few" (Ecclesiastes 5:2). God made us and the universe, and of course he'll never be fully known by us or our children. I'm glad to be reminded of that. And then there's the incredible other side of the story, that there are some things that we really can know, and they belong to us forever. I think it boils down to one thing, to the last words of the text: "The Lord is your life." In the New Testament Jesus says, "I am the word, the truth, the life." John writes, "God is love." These are not metaphorical statements. And neither is this one from the Old Testament, from the Hebrew histories, from the essential law book of the Jews. Like all of us I raise up idols, sometimes without realizing it and sometimes in full undressed-conscious sin. It's pretty much every day that I forget the simple fact that God is my life and move on like I'm necessary and sufficient unto myself. Paul said it best: "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Jesus answered this question for all time in Luke 12: "Do not be afraid, little flock, for the Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom." Even my own wretchedness can rise up like an idol in the sky: I can get to feeling so disgusted and sorry for myself, so stuck on whipping myself into shape, feeling so alone all alone that I miss the big picture of God watching me from our kingdom through the open door, waving at me to come on in. It's not so much that I'm the prodigal son; He's the prodigal Father with an abundance of love and mercy. As O.P. Kretzmann put it nearly 70 years ago at Valparaiso University, we live our lives "between the eternities." On each of these few livelong days, God gives me the chance to know much about him and about myself. I want to wake up tomorrow and take him up on that. How priceless is your unfailing love, Lord. Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. "; Add      Edit    Delete