Insightful Musings on theScriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear people.

Becki will be here in a few minutes to commence with me and Dandy our walk/jog excursion. Then I’ll need to be careful with my time management so as to be at a nearby property at 10am with my saw mill in tow to begin cutting up a bunch of Port Orford Cedar logs. The guy is estimating it to be a two-day job. We’ll see.

She’s here. Here we go.

Blessings on your day. Love, Dad/Ray.

I have reason to believe that one of the greatest shortcomings of human beings in general is failure to make adequate use of their God-given gift of reason. Present-day real life as well as history blend together to reveal a constant bent in humans toward doing and believing dumb things rather than reasonable and wise things. Even in the realm of faith, I do not believe that God desires that we detach ourselves from reason. Although the requirement given by God to Abraham was humanly unreasonable concerning offering his beloved son as a sacrifice, Abraham processed it with reason (let’s call it “creative reason”) and passed the test with flying colors.

Take another look at Isaiah 1:18. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD…” (KJV) To put the main idea in other words, I think God was essentially saying, “Please exercise the gift of reason that I have vested in you and set your course in life according to these two facts that you cannot change on your own: (1) You are a hopeless sinner. (2) I am a Mighty and Gracious Savior.”

As far as practical guidance in godliness is concerned, Romans 12:1-2 could very well be regarded as the central theme verses of the whole Bible. I’ll quote it here in the KJV for two reasons—it’s the version in which I learned it as a little kid, and it also makes use of the word “reason” (a common practice among preachers is to use words and phrases best suited for their “sermonizing”). “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies (including the rest of you, of course) a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your REASONABLE service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

I have no alternative but to reason that full surrender (as full as is knowingly possible) to the Lordship of Christ is entirely reasonable (all things considered)—leaving anything less as unreasonable.