Insightful Musings on theScriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Hello, dear ones.
Becki just headed out for a doctor visit. Earlier we were able to make it up the hill for another walk/jog excursion. Thano is now off to a work shift at Safeway. Earlier, he and I worked at fabricating a daggerboard for that sailing kayak. The thing came with that essential part missing.
I suppose I should get in some real work today. Blessings on your work—or play—or whatever else may be in between those poles.
Love, Dad/Ray.
How many of you wish to be fools? Nobody raised their hand. How many of you wish to live in the blessing of the Lord? All the hands shot up. Interesting.
Here’s another question: Is it possible to want God’s blessing and still be a Biblical fool? I’m afraid that the answer is, YES. How so? Because wanting and wishing is not enough for gaining or achieving the thing wanted or wished. There are laws and conditions attached to nearly everything worth acquiring. You can’t have a new bike if you’re not willing to mow lawns and/or earn the money needed for the purchase. You can’t enjoy maximum health if you violate the laws of diet, exercise, and lifestyle. You can’t secure a professional high-paying career if you don’t submit to the discipline, education, and training required to get there. And you can’t live in the blessing of the Lord without submitting to the basic “law of the LORD.
Just to assist our understanding of terms and their meanings, Proverbs 28:26 offers another standard for identifying fools: “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.” The verse just preceding that one points out the stark contrast: “…but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper” (Proverbs 28:25). All things considered, is there any wisdom out there wiser than this?
You probably already know where I intend to go with this “law of the LORD” idea. I don’t think we are able to go very far at all in the direction of His blessing if we are in any way resistant to “square one” of His law—that is, loving Him and desiring to please Him above all else—a HEART AFTER GOD. We can like the idea of heaven, eternal life, and the blessing of the Lord all we want, but it’s not going to happen by wishful automation. As a growing and developing believer, one must move toward abandoning self-centeredness, loving Him passionately, and demonstrating these laws by hunger, consumption, and digestion of His Word. It’s all part of the essential “law of the LORD” as expressed in Romans 8:2: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (KJV). Without this version of the “law of the LORD,” one will not be free at all, but continually victimized by “the law of sin and death.”