"What shall I say? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field: the grass withers, the flower fades: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God shall stand forever." Isaiah 40:6-8
I think it's safe to say that the hardest part of eternal life is keeping our focus on the perpetual and off the transitory, on the eternal and off the fleeting. This is the hardest thing, because the concrete world is all we know literally in the realm of our senses, and we are more sensuous than spiritual before salvation. Some act like salvation means a complete end of confusion and deception, of mistaken identities and lost focuses. It is a lie. When you are born from above, you are just like any newborn: you have to get your "spiritual legs" underneath you. Salvation is getting the legs; eternal life is learning how to use them. Being "spiritual," having "mythic eyes," is not an imparted superpower, but a learned discipline. Be wedded to the fact that everything in this world (good, bad, or indifferent) is geared to knock your legs out from under you, to blind your eyes. Practical agnosticism comes the moment we think living by faith is easy and not a battle. The Spirit of God is your strength, but you must be prepared to face the noise of this world as it vies for your attention. God cannot help the one who walks onto the battlefield and is ignorant of the battle (except to let him get knocked around a bit).
"All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." Notice that the material world is not condemned. There is a "goodliness," a loveliness to the world that is as real as the loveliness of a flower. Gnosticism is a lie, and this verse stands defiantly against it. The material world is not evil, per se; it is just transitory, not the end, and therefore not meritorious of our focus. It will wither and fade away by the very same breath that gave it life (vs. 7). It fades not becaus eit is evil, but because that is its very nature; it cannot be forever.
"The word of our God shall stand forever." Only what is of God will be forever, and in that sense only what is of God matters. This heaven and earth do not matter; the new ones do. Our little kingdoms do not matter; the kingdom of God does. Life as it is does not matter; only eternal life does. We do not matter; only God does. Do not misunderstand. I am not giving a qualitative or moral judgment. I am talking about focus. The earth is good and to be cared for, we must see to our affairs like adults, and life is meant to be lived; but we must never get wrapped up in those things, for they will fade away. Some people are so wrapped up, so hopelessly bound to things, that they will wither away with them. Hell is the place where all things eternally wither away into the nothingness that is not-God.
Perhaps it is true that your focus determines your reality, even if that reality is false. We must guard ourselves daily from the snare of the transitory. The more we focus on a thing, the easier it becomes to stay focused on it. Pray that the eternal Lord teaches us to stay focused on Him.
"Teach us to get lost in You,
Not in this world,
To trade the food of egypt
For Milk and Honey..."
-Jon Vowell
I think it's safe to say that the hardest part of eternal life is keeping our focus on the perpetual and off the transitory, on the eternal and off the fleeting. This is the hardest thing, because the concrete world is all we know literally in the realm of our senses, and we are more sensuous than spiritual before salvation. Some act like salvation means a complete end of confusion and deception, of mistaken identities and lost focuses. It is a lie. When you are born from above, you are just like any newborn: you have to get your "spiritual legs" underneath you. Salvation is getting the legs; eternal life is learning how to use them. Being "spiritual," having "mythic eyes," is not an imparted superpower, but a learned discipline. Be wedded to the fact that everything in this world (good, bad, or indifferent) is geared to knock your legs out from under you, to blind your eyes. Practical agnosticism comes the moment we think living by faith is easy and not a battle. The Spirit of God is your strength, but you must be prepared to face the noise of this world as it vies for your attention. God cannot help the one who walks onto the battlefield and is ignorant of the battle (except to let him get knocked around a bit).
"All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." Notice that the material world is not condemned. There is a "goodliness," a loveliness to the world that is as real as the loveliness of a flower. Gnosticism is a lie, and this verse stands defiantly against it. The material world is not evil, per se; it is just transitory, not the end, and therefore not meritorious of our focus. It will wither and fade away by the very same breath that gave it life (vs. 7). It fades not becaus eit is evil, but because that is its very nature; it cannot be forever.
"The word of our God shall stand forever." Only what is of God will be forever, and in that sense only what is of God matters. This heaven and earth do not matter; the new ones do. Our little kingdoms do not matter; the kingdom of God does. Life as it is does not matter; only eternal life does. We do not matter; only God does. Do not misunderstand. I am not giving a qualitative or moral judgment. I am talking about focus. The earth is good and to be cared for, we must see to our affairs like adults, and life is meant to be lived; but we must never get wrapped up in those things, for they will fade away. Some people are so wrapped up, so hopelessly bound to things, that they will wither away with them. Hell is the place where all things eternally wither away into the nothingness that is not-God.
Perhaps it is true that your focus determines your reality, even if that reality is false. We must guard ourselves daily from the snare of the transitory. The more we focus on a thing, the easier it becomes to stay focused on it. Pray that the eternal Lord teaches us to stay focused on Him.
"Teach us to get lost in You,
Not in this world,
To trade the food of egypt
For Milk and Honey..."
-Jon Vowell
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