God
is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things. Nothing exists without his creating it. Nothing stays in being without his sustaining word. Everything has its reason for existing from him. Therefore nothing can be understood apart from him, and all understandings of all things that leave him out are superficial understandings, since they leave out the most important reality in the universe. We can scarcely begin to feel today how God-ignoring we have become, because it is the very air we breathe. This is why I say that Edwards’s God-entranced vision of all things is not only rare but also necessary. If we do not share this vision, we will not consciously join God in the purpose for which he created the universe. And if we do not join God in advancing his aim for the universe, then we waste our lives and oppose our Creator.
~ John Piper, A God-Entranced View of All Things; The LIfe and Legacy of Jonathan Edwards
If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
~ C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
1 comment:
Powerful words to meditate on and pray over, Sharaya. Have you read Louis Giglio's I am not but I know I AM? He talks about how we so often think that it's all about us and we mistakenly invite God to be apart of what we are doing when it is in fact, ALL about HIM and we should be about the business of joining HIM everyday to do what HIS work is around us.
Thank you for this reminder and yes, I will pray with you to have him scrub off the mud and find out where He wants me to be.
blessings
~a
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