Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Greetings, dear special people.
It’s hard for me to believe the hour of the day I just entered on the Subject Line above…11:27am! That’s much later than I want it to be. But there has been a lot of stuff happening already today. Becki and I managed our walk/jog spree. (My oldest daughter calls it a “wog.” Maybe I’ll start using that word too.) I also set up our two guests from New York to do some rapelling from a tree by the creek. They seemed to enjoy that.
I mentioned I had a report on Bimbo. We found him Saturday evening…but not really. Becki went online and came up with a posting by a neighbor nearby that described Bimbo who was in their custody. I felt obligated to call. It turns out that they did have Bimbo…but no longer. Apparently when the lady let him loose from his containment to go potty, he bolted away like a rabbit…and all her calling was to no avail. So he’s still out there somewhere. If you see him, don’t tell anyone. On second thought, maybe you should give me a call.
Here’s hoping you have a good day.
Love, Dad/Ray.
Let’s hang on that statement and see if we can get the fuller meaning figured out. Who is “He?” Note the previous verse: “The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.” In my judgment, that just about describes everyone who has not been delivered from the bondage of the NATURAL SIN NATURE, born of the Spirit, enlightened by truth, and disciplined and devoted to a course of living to please God—the product of which is righteousness—right relationship with God.
Does the FOCUS VERSE mean that people die because they don’t exercise enough discipline to stay alive? Certainly not. Since everyone dies whether or not they are smart or stupid, saint or sinner, disciplined or undisciplined, that cannot be the case. In the bigger Biblical picture, I think we’re talking about bigger death than just dying. It’s the death that Jesus speaks of in John 3:16 and 11:25-26, and that Paul speaks of in Romans 6:23—a conscious eternal death of separation from the loving provisions of God—like HELL. If the Bible is true, it’s real, horrible, and nobody really wants to go there. But once again, if the Bible is true, the NATURAL SIN NATURE is also real. That’s where “folly” (a synonym for the NATURAL SIN NATURE) comes in—the general ignoring of that reality and general failure to accept God’s provision for dealing with it—without which everyone faces HELL (perishing). Men can reject, fight, fume, and argue all they want, but how can they have any confidence whatsoever that their opposition changes one iota of anything?
I want to resist posing as an authority concerning a place I’ve never been—I’ve never been to hell before. But we are given a clue here as to what that state will include. “At the end of your life you will groan…’How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors’” (5:11-14). I’m led to reason that one of the dismal features of hell that contributes to making it hell is the retention of memory—the constant reality of regret—a clear recollection of all the guidance and opportunities God graciously provided that one chose to disregard or reject.
This is precisely why the good news of the Biblical Gospel is such good news. What hope would we have without the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29)? Where would we be without the amazing grace of God “that saved a wretch like me”? Every sin-bound sinner faces the opportunity for rescue, restoration, forgiveness, and eternal life if only they will come to “hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6) like a starving and dehydrated man hungers and thirsts for food and water.