Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear ones.

I’ve mentioned more than once the last few days that I need to get to the sawmill and turn out some cedar for an urgent project. I still haven’t done so. Too many things keep getting in the way. And yesterday afternoon as I approached the job, I discovered a breakdown on one of the important components of the mill. I fought into late evening to free up that part. It now looks like I’ll need to take it to a shop with a hefty press and have that frozen shaft pressed out.

We face another commitment today that prevents my following through with that need. In fact I need to hurry. We’ll be driving my cousin and wife to the coast for the weekend. He’s legally blind—and she’s afraid to drive.

May your day go well.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Allow me to put forth my own amplified paraphrase of this statement by Jesus: “If and when a person invests time and effort toward examining the entire spread of human life and purpose, applying their best use of God-given intelligence (objective reasoning), concluding that the best use of a fleeting life is to seek and serve the One Who gave them life, then that person is absolutely not alone in his quest—the very Spirit of God will orchestrate all kinds of circumstances and influences so as to lead that person into a relationship with Jesus Christ and the truth of His Word.”

I judge this to be a kind of governing law within the Kingdom of God. And I judge my own mother to be a demonstration of the principle. She was raised within the religious fence of Christian Science—attending such a church and being indoctrinated by their brand of ideology. However, in spite of all that influence, she reached a point where she chose “to do God’s will”—at least she wanted to—deciding that the most reasonable and reliable medium for guidance in that course was God’s Word, the Bible, as opposed to the writings of Mary Baker Eddy. I believe that God graciously met her where she was and brought about circumstances and influences to lead and guide her into a profound conversion experience—an experience that made her KNOW by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ was no con-artist, one who simply made a bunch of truth claims about himself that were not true.

Furthermore, I believe that I myself am no more a product of my environment, insofar as faith and belief are concerned, than my mother was. I have had to arrive at my own conclusions and make my own choices. And the same Holy Spirit that confirmed basic Biblical truth for her has graciously done the same for me. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16).

Since I’ve snatched a line from Romans 8, allow me to proceed to well-known verse 28—because I think it fits so well with the principle we’re highlighting. “And we know that in all things (God-orchestrated circumstances and influences) God works for the good of those who love him (those who have chosen “to do God’s will”) who have been called according to his purpose (to seek and serve Him—a HEART AFTER GOD)” (Romans 8:28).