Changing Seasons

Our hot and unusually wet summer here in southeastern Pennsylvania has produced a different kind of autumn. I assume that the abundance of moisture caused confusion for many of the trees. In normal years, the leaves would all be on the ground by early November. Not so this year! There are still holdouts refusing to turn loose of their host and drift downward to await the winter snows. It’s like they’re stalling, hoping to turn back the calendar.

But, the calendar will advance. The leaves, even the most stubborn holdouts, will fall. Time stands still for none of us. And those falling leaves are a gentle and beautiful reminder of a coming appointment we all must keep.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10, ESV).

This is a sobering thought. But for the apostle Paul, it was also a thought that filled his heart with joyful anticipation. We are going to stand before Jesus! We are going to see His face! And if we are faithful to make choices that please Him, we will hear His words of commendation. “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

This was what motivated Paul to say, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Cor. 5:9). In other words, there were only two days on Paul’s calendar: “today,” and, “that day.”

Every choice we make on this day will influence what words we hear from Jesus on that day. Let’s make it our aim today to “please him” – to keep on becoming God’s kind of husband, God’s kind of wife, God’s kind of parent or grandparent, God’s kind of friend, God’s kind of church member.

Someday, just as sure as those leaves are falling outside my window, we will stand before the Lord who loved us and gave Himself for us. By His grace, let’s give ourselves back to Him today.

Why Good Theologians Are Worth Reading, Even When They Are Sometimes Wrong

There is a heroic quality to the thought of men who are willing to tackle the greatest themes relating to God, creation, salvation, and the church: even when they make mistakes, they make magnificent mistakes from which we can all learn.  In a day of small men and small minds, we should be grateful that the Lord is truly good, and has provided such brilliant men to inform the great traditions of the church and to provide us with immense resources of theology and devotion.

Carl Trueman, “On Heroes and the Heroic”http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2010/09/on-heroes-and-hero-worship.php

Perspective

According to my online dictionary, perspective is “ the ability to see things in a true relationship.” Perspective is how we view life, its events, and those who travel the road of life with us. It seems to run too easily on autopilot, while constantly requiring our attention. Perspective is a necessary, but fickle element of life.

I had the opportunity recently to replay a scene that I’ve watched with each of our grand-girls. Our youngest granddaughter was in the den playing with her toys. She had assembled the little people with their furniture, clothes, toys, and all the rest. Among the collection was a chair, a tricycle, and a dress. As a two year old, she knows what a chair and a tricycle and a dress are in her world—they are to be seated on, ridden, and worn. So in the course of playing she attempted to sit on the 3 inch tall chair, ride the 2 inch high tricycle, and put on the tiny dress. It was a comical sight.

Her perspective of the world understood the relationship of each item, but totally missed the proportion of each. Despite her efforts to use each in a way that she had learned they were designed for, her efforts were only rewarded with failure and confusion. The more she tried, the funnier the scene grew. Until she learns that proportion is part of perspective, she is bound to replay the scene again.

While the matter of skewed perspective in a two-year old’s life may be the occasion for comedy, it can mark continuing failure and confusion in our lives as adults. Trials are part of everyone’s life (Job 14:1) and have a purpose in God’s plan.

1 Peter 1:7-“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes . . . might be found unto praise and honor and glory . . .”

James 1:2-4-“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

When we lose perspective, we are in trouble. Too often the problem is one of proportion. When proportion is lost in perspective God seems to be the size of my granddaughter’s toy tricycle. We may understand the relationship, but it just can’t take us anywhere—it’s too small.

Perspective requires our constant attention. Perhaps we should follow the advice of one song writer who wrote, “Instead of telling God how big your problems are, you need to tell your problems how big your God is.” After all, until we learn that proportion is part of perspective, we are bound to replay the scene again.