Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good good good morning to you, dear ones.

We need all the good we can get.

Yup! Two little boys are here again. Are they ever! And once again, Thano is gone…off on a job to use his fancy wood splitter to break up a bunch of a customer’s firewood. He definitely needs the money. So Becki has primary custody of these two little wild men. I took some time out with them to deal with some issues…and to swing them on the big one-rope swing that flies way out over the creek. The arc is probably 50 feet long.

Out this window rests my old workhorse ’92 Dodge pickup with a Cummins diesel, with the equipment trailer hooked to it, and the track hoe sitting on it. I plan to head out as soon as I can to finish gathering and hauling a bunch of logs that I have negotiated with the owner. At least the ground is plenty dry now to allow access to where the logs are.

Blessings on your day. Love, Dad/Ray.

Look no further for a simple formula for achieving a successful life. It’s all right here—condensed into one little psalter sound bite.

PRAISE THE LORD. This is the premise, a pronouncement of purpose. That’s why we’re here. We were created by the Creator to please Him—to bring praise to Him. The last verse of the last Psalm declares, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD” (150:6). To determine where you stand in regards to this obligation, all you need to do is check yourself for breathing.

BLESSED IS THE MAN. Biblical blessing is that special benevolent goodness that comes only from God. It’s a mystical divine quality that makes human life work right. It is not to be confused with affluence and stuff. No amount of technology or luxury can produce a sense of peace and well-being.

WHO FEARS THE LORD. This fear is not to be equated with the fear one might have of an angry mother bear or a hungry crocodile. It is a respectful fear born of a love relationship which excludes any fear of harm or loss. To properly FEAR THE LORD is to fear not loving Him. Not to FEAR THE LORD is to violate our purpose and eliminate our only hope for true blessing.

WHO FINDS. Seldom do we find valuable things that are not looked for—not sought. The value of this personal relationship with the LORD should be enough to prompt serious seeking. No one will accidentally find this valuable personal relationship. It can only be found by seeking it.

GREAT DELIGHT. Passionate pleasure—here is the special secret benefit that the enemy of men’s souls does not want people to know about. That which empowers this personal relationship is anything but “ho-hum” boring monotony. Indeed, an attitude of indifferent independence toward God renders quite the opposite of blessing. It plays out to be equal with cursing.

IN HIS COMMANDS. So non-seekers never become finders. And a deterrent to the engagement to seeking is the natural tendency to view Biblical commands on a par with dismal drudgery—like old-fashioned out-moded platitudes that restrict people from having any fun. And that is precisely what the arch deceiver wants them to think. However, once a person intently seeks to the point of finding, lights come on, perspectives change, and that ugly notion of drudgery is reversed and transformed into delight. Biblical instruction is no longer seen as a barrier to pleasure but the very means for accessing it in the truest sense. There is no pleasure that can be compared with the one that flows out of a sense of right relationship with one’s Maker.