Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Good morning, dear ones…
…although there isn’t much of it left. I’ve already done some business, among other things.
I played a trick on the dogs earlier this morning—driving in the car a short ways, then doing a jog along the roadside—without the dogs.
Becki will be returning this evening some time. That’s a lot of driving. They’re traveling aboard a fancy little Mercedes diesel.
A friend who also runs a portable sawmill business has Thano working for him today…since he doesn’t work at Safeway today.
Have a great day. It’s getting to be a warm one here.
Love, Dad/Ray.
Taking into account the whole of Biblical revelation, I’d like to attempt a concise paraphrase of these words by Jesus: “He who joins with me participates in the solution. He who rejects me remains a part of the problem.” Of course, the universal problem is SIN. And the exclusive solution for this core problem is JESUS.
Jesus goes on to give a small but authoritative glimpse into how things work in the realm of evil spirits (vv. 24-26). It’s spooky. And it’s supposed to be. But Who else could present this kind of information with such authority and clarity? We can be sure He is not just putting forth a theory or opinion—which is all we finite humans can do. This brief disclosure helps to confirm the huge devastating consequences of rejecting Christ and His Lordship. So when one rejects the invitation influences of the Kingdom of God, he unwittingly and automatically (by default) makes himself open and vulnerable to the influences and controls of the enemy kingdom. Every person, therefore, faces the real option of either becoming a “house of God” or a “haunted house.” And the only way to be the former over the latter is to “SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS…” (Matthew 6:33). Why in the world does this make so much sense to me—but so little sense to “unbelievers?” Read again the last section of this reading for the fundamental answer (vv. 33-36). To be sure it has to do with internal enlightenment—the mystical, yet profound, work of the Spirit of God—the quintessential opposite to the work of evil spirits.
While Jesus was teaching along these lines, a woman in the crowd was distracted by a form of MARIOLOTRY (the deification and worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus) and called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” Jesus forthrightly corrected her by replying, “Blessed rather are those who HEAR (hearing ears) the word of God and obey it” (Luke 11:27-28). We mustn’t let this get by us. This is not only a statement describing mankind’s solution in general, it is MY SOLUTION in particular!