Skip to main content

But the Wisdom that Comes from Heaven...

             But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:17-18)

Last week was a good but tough week, and the weekend involved trying to get things done that I didn’t have time to do during the week. I’m tired and quickly running out of time to write this. That may be part of why this passage - or just one word - is striking deep. The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. Pure. Not mixed with stuff. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the books we read, the shows we watch, the people we think are friends, the authorities we obey are all polluted. We’re polluted by chemicals, our sins, and the sins of others. The idea of purity has been polluted because, more often than not, it’s limited to a sexual condition. I suspect that means that the idea isn’t even pure.

And heaven knows I’m not pure, either. I’m making a lap afghan for charity, but I don’t care about the person who will get it. It’s all about the making. For the past five weeks, I’ve attended a Sunday School class about finding your fit in Christ’s family. The information was interesting, and I think I need to spend about 90 hours considering it, but when the discussion turned to our acting on the information, my thoughts were contaminated by fear and distrust. What makes this particularly sad is that “Karen” is derived from Catherine, which means “Pure.”

But, the wisdom that comes from heaven is pure. I find myself drawn to this idea. It’s a treasure hunt that needs to happen. Rather than tell you, I’m going to just challenge you. Think for a few minutes about purity.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more