Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

If it is true that the first-and-foremost front-and-center premier standard that God sets for His human creatures is that they come to seek and love Him passionately at heart level, do you think there might some negative consequences for one to face who doesn’t?—or just doesn’t want to? Of all the scary things that one may encounter on planet earth, NOT seeking and loving God should be at the top of the list. Can anyone clearly explain to me why we are even here—if that is not the reason?

I was once told about a pastor who was a compelling preacher of the Biblical Gospel. In his church was a well-to-do man who attended fairly regular, but who was resistant and reluctant to fully surrender his own life to the lordship of Christ. Nearly every time that man would sit through a clear presentation of the Gospel and was moved with conviction, he would substitute full surrender for a check written to the church—which he would always personally give to the pastor. This happened repeatedly—until the pastor, on this particular occasion, was moved by Spirit-inspired boldness. He took the check, tore it up in little pieces, let it fall to the floor right in front of the guy, and looked this guy in the eye while he said, “God doesn’t want your money, Jack—He wants you—and all of you!”

I’m inclined to agree with that pastor. There is no other way, in my view, to process an overview of Biblical revelation. This is the bottom line. And we are in error to accept any contaminating notion that the LORD is happy with half-baked, half-hearted, ho-hum, superficial Christianity—where one assumes that God is OK with giving Him what’s left over—like conveniently contributing some spare change. Come on—is that why God “gave his only begotten Son?”—so we could live compromised luke-warm lives? Revisit the story of the LORD instructing Abraham to offer his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice and we have to conclude that God wants even what we love most on the altar (Genesis 22)—not because God needs the sacrifice, but because we need the surrender. And consider again the terms of engagement Paul is inspired to present in Romans 12:1—“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (KJV). Wow! When we see this clearly, I think it also becomes clear that anything less is UNREASONABLE. And to help us understand more clearly what the “therefore” of that verse is there for, check out the preceding verse. While you’re at it, revisit the verse following to confirm how it is supposed to play out. Although we are speaking of mystical realities (I hope that’s not a paradox), it’s really not like complicated rocket science.