300 was the number on the box. Except this puzzle came with a bonus -- duplicate -- piece.
How often in life we want. What we have is not enough. More money or success or entertainment would make life worthwhile. And we strike out on a quest to obtain that 301st piece. The relationships with my spouse, children, and parents can wait. Let me amuse myself. God will understand this compromise. Don't I have to be a good employee? That church event will come around next year. This is a can't miss opportunity. Can't afford to tell that person about Jesus. I've got to keep up appearances. With that 301st piece -- we are sure -- that we will have enough. It will bring fulfillment and happiness and purpose. Only it never does. Once we have it, we know: it looked sure flashy right before it fizzled. The good it promised evaporated, and we were left holding the bill. And as we look back at our original pieces, they demonstrate the truth: God is (and always will be) our fulfillment, joy, and hope. 300 pieces were enough -- because the God who gave them is always enough. How often do we hear God’s attributes, but with limited hearing? Like words missing a letter – the whole meaning changes. We can recite of litany of Who God is – God is good, patient and kind. He is our Savior, Provider, and King. He protects, loves, and guides us.
But we hear those words with letters missing – with our own caveats. To our dull ears, good means God gives me what I want. He’s patient, so He won’t punish me. King means in heaven, but for now I’m in charge. Protection means I will physically be preserved. It never crosses our hearing that protection isn’t always physical – it could be emotional, and it definitely includes spiritual. It never occurs to us that the Lord’s Kingship of heaven requires our submission on earth. And while we are willing to say patience includes firm correction for others, for me no way! And on that subject, we know love includes saying “no”. But we “know” it the best for us, so God would never tell us no! We listen, but we are hard of hearing (Matthew 13:15, Acts 28:17, and Hebrews 5:11). And it's not a matter of listening harder, it's a matter of hearing what God has already said. Doesn't it look like he's posing for the camera? Because what else could you possibly want to take a picture of? Too often, I am like this grasshopper. Life is all about me -- and feeling good about me -- and enjoying me -- and me, me, and more me. But life isn't about me, isn't about Christ. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." -- John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The surgeon general does not approve of this picture. Taking pictures while you drive is dangerous to your health and the well-being of those around you. Phew! Now that is clear (because thinking people don't know that already :) -- I took this picture because there was a rainbow. Not just the tiny blur of rainbow visible in the middle of the photo, but an arrestingly beautiful bow. The problem was the camera lens couldn't see it. And it reminded me how often we are confident that we see the whole picture, accurately -- but we don't. Every time we study God's word, worship His majesty, and express our opinions, it is crucial to remember how limited our understanding truly is. My camera thought it captured everything and as far as everyone who didn't see the rainbow knows, it did. Afterall, it was mostly right. There was a speed limit sign, and an 18-wheeler in front of me -- the sun was really shining. But as the distracted driver of the car, risking her life to take this picture, I can categorically say: The camera didn't see all of reality and failed to capture what was truly important. Unlike God, whose vision is always perfect, our perspective is more like my camera -- focused on getting a great shot of a speed limit sign while distorting the focal point. In general, designers are self-centered. They care only how their creations look, not how they look on real people. Who cares if this cut makes most of the female population look like a beach ball on legs or if that pattern draws everyone's attention to the wrong spots? Isn't it gorgeous to look at on this faceless manakin? God, on the other hand, always designs with a face in mind. In infinite love and wisdom, He looks at our broken world housing our broken lives and begins His creative work. He knows our greatest need is Himself, and He is able to use every circumstance to conform us to the image of Christ – which is the most flattering look for all mankind. That is how God can promise and keep Romans 8:28. Whether He convicts or corrects or comforts, our best is to be like Jesus. To that end, He gives and He takes away. He says no, and wait and stay and go, from His perfect, all-knowing, infinite love. That is His motive. The question is: What motive are we mentally assigning to God? Creativity in fashion (think the red carpet and catwalks) like art and life, can be startlingly hideous, but rarely is it strikingly lovely. And ironically, neither is it unique. Someone somewhere has done that before. Inspiration came from something, nature or history or another designer.
In other words, our creativity comes from somewhere. This is demonstrated by our inability to conceive new colors. We can mix colors from existing colors and produce a shade or hue we desire. But the capability to create entirely new color is impossible to comprehend (not to mention see since our eyes are only see a certain spectrum). God does not have this issue. His creativity comes from Himself. His perfection. His goodness. His boundless mind and capacity. He created the colors and the eyes that sees them as a mere taste of His all-powerful creativity. The question is: Do we recognize and submit to His creative power? I came close to laughing out loud in store this week. They were selling bell-bottom pants, that looked like they could have come from both my childhood and my mother’s childhood. It is a well-known fact that in fashion, if you just wait long enough, that skirt or that shirt will be trendy again.
What’s old really will be new, because, though they would be insulted by this statement: Designers have limited creativity, as a necessary reflection of their finiteness. Their brains have limited capacity, experience, and ability. Thus, every 20 years, like clockwork, they rework, repurpose and recycle their ideas, and we can buy bell-bottoms again. God’s creativity however is unlimited, as a necessary reflection of His infinity. He is perfect in capacity, experience, and ability. He is never stumped and forced to use the same idea or concept twice – unless He wants to. He never has to give anyone the same gifts or circumstances or personality or skills. He always looks at the drawing board of our lives with perfect knowledge and insight ready to do a new thing. The question is: Have we joined Him in what He is doing? ...There is no middle ground. Once we truly believe, our lives will reflect that faith either in rebellion or rejoicing. Well, some would say, what about the religious leaders -- don't they show us a third choice? The teachers and priests in Jerusalem had the Book that held the keys to the coming of the King. They knew the Old Testament inside and out. They dedicated their scholarly minds and their professional lives to it. The prophecies held no secrets back from them -- they thought. But when they heard the proclamation of the kings and the words of their sacred book, they...did nothing. Because they didn't believe. If they had believed, they would have acted. Many of us like to think apathy is an option when we believe. It's not. Apathy is the proof of our disbelief. For good or ill, those who believe, act. Our invitation today is to believe, and rejoice in the truth. You don't hear many sermons on King Herod's example to us. I've never heard one. But I have a thought to ponder. The kings from the East studied the stars and the literature they had. They observed, reasoned, and concluded that the King of Israel was being born. Even without the Scriptures, they believed this to the point where they risked life, fortune, and reputation to travel hundreds of miles or more on some sort of foot -- theirs or an animal's. And when they arrived in Jerusalem they heard the prophecy of Micah and trekked down to a little, dirty town -- seeking that King. Because they believed and rejoiced. King Herod heard the words of the Magi together with the words of Scripture. He put two and two together, and he believed, but did not rejoice. Based on that belief, King Herod, whether he knew it or not, fulfilled the prophecies of Scripture, slaughtering the babes of Bethlehem. Because King Herod believed and rebelled. When we believe those are our two options -- we can believe and rebel against God or we can believe and rejoice... Our culture has made a serious decision. Love is proven with candy...lots of candy...especially chocolate...with red roses and a fluffy white bear, the bigger the better. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you know, for sure, someone loves you (at least in February)
In the midst of this deluge of sugar and red hearts, we all know love isn't proven by a single gift one time a year. And some of us feel distinctly unloved especially on February 14th, because we know love can be proven, but chocolate isn't the way. So on this special day, some of us need to know something else. There is Someone who loves us dearly. God proved His love for us like this: When we were rebelling against Him, He came and died in our place. This is the way Jesus rescued us from God's righteous wrath and made us ready for a relationship with God. -- Romans 5:8-9 (paraphrased) God's Valentine's verse (Romans 5:8-9), speaks to each of us, but it is up to us to listen. You and I are loved by God so much that even though We have sinned against Him and pushed God away, He sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins So I could be forgiven and freed from my sins, And so you could be forgiven and freed from your sins, Now you and I are invited to know and follow Him forever. Do you believe this? If not, God still loves you, and today is your opportunity to ask God to change your heart and mind. If yes, God still loves you, and your life, today, is the opportunity to love Him back with obedience and worship. Happy Valentine's Day! |
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