January 17, 2007
Beauty & Bleakness - Frozen Contrast
Steam rising from my coffee cup renders a substance to the air right before me as I stare out into my frozen Colorado morning. The chill by the window causes me to reach for my snuggly wool blanket and cocoon within it. Transfixed with the beauty and bleakness combination before me my mind turns to those who love God and have fallen short of the glory of God. Ok so I’m thinking about everyone in the world? Not really, though without Jesus and that pesky little sin nature of ours that certainly describes the multitude – but I’m thinking of those whose sin has brought public humiliation. My heart is so sad for those who are in the midst of that frozen beauty and bleakness moment in time. Beauty for the Christ likeness their life reflected before the bleakness of sin froze it into contrast. Their world and all those in their world are upended and they are gripped by a life altering shaking. I know a little something about that kind of pain and my insides shout a prayer, “Oh Lord, keep me from doing things that are detrimental to Your kingdom and that are contrary to righteousness”.
We all face sin’s tempting invitation daily. Unfortunately we have this earth measuring thing that says a sweet little ole lady turning to the dark side and cussing at her computer with occasional acts of physical violence against the machine isn’t as bad as taking a life. That’s not how God sees it. Sin in any amount will distance us from God. It’s not a legalistic argument over right and wrong or a good sinner verses bad sinner type of thing. Sin, as defined in the original translations of the Bible, means "to miss the mark." The mark, in this case, is the standard of perfection established by God and evidenced by Jesus – end of sentence, period, end of point. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:23: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Pearl to string: It’s the Son that melts the bleakness of sin. "For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God's goodness into us!" 2 Corinthians 5:21. It’s the Son that takes us back to Our Father. It’s the Son that gives us hope. It’s the Son that grows our faith. And it’s the Son that gives God the victory. "Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure: genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of His victory." 1 Peter 1:7 MSG
Continually renewing in Jesus,
Lyndi
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