My desire is to know and love God. This sounds appealing in theory, but prioritizing this in one's life is costly because it means letting go of having to be 'right.'
As fallen humans we are more prone to want to be 'right' than we are to want to know God, as seen in the creation story where humans prioritize the tree of knowledge over the tree of life. This doesn't mean there is no right nor wrong but that we don't have the capacity to independently know which is which and must depend on God (tree of life) to discern right from wrong in a life-giving way. From experience, I know that to grow in the intimate knowledge of God means being willing to let go of judgmentalism which gives us a sense that we know best and are 'right' and the other is 'wrong'.
So the first step in knowing God is to want to know and live in God's love more than to want to be right; we start by simply asking for that desire. Then as we set our hearts to wanting God above wanting our own understanding of 'right and wrong' (Prov 3:5), we need to know where to go to see what the Father is like. George MacDonald has beautifully expressed where to look in knowing the Father:
"...no man can, with thorough honesty, take the name of Christian whose ideas of the Father of men are gathered from any other field than the life, thought, words, and deeds of the only Son of that Father...it is not from the Bible as a book that we are to draw our ideas of God, but from the living Man into whose presence that book brings us, who is alive now, and gives his Spirit that they who read about him may understand what kind of being he is..."
Only in Jesus do we truly know what God is like; He brings the blurry picture of God into focus. God is Christlike. This is good news indeed, and while it seems it should be obvious, many of us who are Jesus followers miss what a radical message this is. May we have ears to hear and eyes to see what the Spirit has to say and show us about the Father in Jesus.
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Nita, thank you for your insights. I'm a MacDonald fan who often must mull over and over some of his teaching. Could you tell me where this quote came from?
ReplyDeleteHow well I understand, Greg! His words are so simple and profound; he was a man far ahead of his time in his understanding of God, I believe. In answer to your question, this quote comes from his book, "The Lady's Confession" (originally titled "Paul Faber, Surgeon"). God bless you!
ReplyDeleteI had to grab my paperback edition (Michael Phillips,Editor), and find the reference in chapter 25... underlined. Thank you for helping me out! Nita, as I recall, you have made sparse comments about some debilitating affliction. I along with your many friends can't help but grieve this ordeal and I shall pray for you the words of Polwarth (I believe) in the closings chapters of this same book,
ReplyDelete"Father, through your Son you know pain and even now you feel the pain of this your child. Help her to endure until you should say it is a enough. Let it not Overmaster her patience; let it not be too much for her. What good it shall work in her, Lord, we do not need to instruct you."
What kind words, Greg; and the prayer from MacDonald is wonderful! It's been years since I've read that. It touched me deeply reading it now. Thank you very much!
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