Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Good morning, special ones.
Two little boys were dropped off here early. The garbage and recycle bins have been placed by the road. Ron Funk is here cutting up some slabwood to use as firewood. And his wife, Jan, is in the house visiting with Becki along with various crises surrounding the little boys
I picked up a trip permit for the crane truck yesterday…as I plan to use it in the next few days on three different jobs. I’ll use it today to mount a couple signs high on a building in Molalla.
May today’s chapter of your life course go well.
Love, Dad/Ray.
If this simple statement describing Rehoboam can be accepted as accurate, I reason that we have here a simple clear spiritual and moral law to which the entire human race is subject—including me and you. And if we can agree with the Biblical disclosure that all arrive here on earth with a NATURAL SIN NATURE, then it’s easy to see which life course is the default one—and it’s not “seeking the LORD.”
Consider the popular advice that says, “Follow your heart.” As is the case with so many quips and cliches, there are both good and bad ways to apply that advice. To be sure, if I merely follow the heart level impluses of my NATURAL SIN NATURE, I am certainly headed for danger and trouble. Consider the idea that my heart is like a vehicle. When I board my car, I don’t ask, “Well, car, where are you going to take me today?” No—before I ever sit down in the driver’s seat and start the engine, I already have in mind where I intend to go. To carry the metaphor further, imagine me going somewhere in my car, maybe on a freeway at 70mph, and someone on the radio says, “Just take your hands off the wheel and let your car do the driving! Come on—everyone’s doing it! People everywhere are reporting that it offers new freedom and fulfillment.” How safe is that? How would you rate my intelligence if I complied with that crazy order?
We continue to focus on very basic and fundamental ideas. In view of our own natural propensity to error and self-afflicted damage, I have to believe our repetition is justified. I cannot imagine anything more basic, fundamental, or urgent than for each of us to personally establish a clear understanding of the Creator’s intended purpose for our even being given a heart—that special gift of God-likeness—the CPU (central processing unit) within us for thinking, setting values, and making choices. The Biblical use of “heart” is definitely far more than a literal blood pump. Don’t you think Rehoboam could have been benefited greatly by getting this nailed down early in life?—that the created purpose for his heart was for “seeking the LORD”—equated with a HEART AFTER GOD. Don’t you think your own life course can be benefited? What about the life courses of your children and grandchildren? For that matter, what about the life courses of everyone?!
Question: If a person, at heart level, will truly and faithfully seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, where will their heart likely lead them? Where do you think they will end up? Duh! This is not complicated rocket science.