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- Written by: Don Goulding
You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me, but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life. (John 5:39-40)
When I served in Albania, a small boy couldn’t reach the table from his chair. I slid a thick Bible under the lad to boost him a few inches.
“How dare you use the Word of God to sit on,” a local believer said with a furrowed brow.
I replaced the Bible with a dictionary.
The encounter left me wondering which was more sacred, the paper, ink, and leather of the Bible or the child who sat on it? I recalled that the living word of God, Jesus, allowed children to sit on him.
I don’t want the Bible to become something it is not. It is not a lucky talisman and it is not the target of my adoration. It’s also not meant as a source for bookish knowledge. The Bible is a miracle that the Holy Spirit uses to carry me to Jesus—who is the complete Word of God.
The best way I know to respect Bibles, crosses, angels, and whatever else points to Jesus, is to not worship them. Instead, I will pursue saturation to my core by the person of Jesus Christ. Only there can I find life to the fullest.
Prayer: Jesus, Holy Word of God, consume me.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, and the ones who see may become blind.” (John 9:39)
For five days running, the vacation Bible school told us about Jesus. The message saturated my eleven-year-old heart and pumped through my veins, right up to my eyes. Things looked different. When the man at the front said come forward if you want Jesus, I went.
The next day, my vision was still changed. My new eyes made me understand things, like why I shouldn’t punch on my sisters.
Time dulled my special sight. During my teenage years I squinted into the dark world. I was going blind again.
At age nineteen, God offered a bailout. I could join an evangelical missionary group in the U.S. Midwest, or I could stay with my druggy friends. It was time to choose.
Maybe I can understand why those who have never seen God’s light might elect blindness, but I had looked into an existence of glory and I couldn’t pretend it wasn’t there. I decided to fix my eyes on Jesus.
Life is about choosing what we see. I have to be blind to the temporal or the eternal. If my sights are on material objects, then faith disappears. But when I stare at eternity, the world fades and truth solidifies into the person of Jesus.
Prayer: Exalted One, I choose to see beautiful you.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. (Genesis 2:19)
A farmer in Africa introduced us to his elephants—Mary, Boxy, and Shorty. They were characters who snatched their owner’s hat away in a game of keep away.
As I laid oranges on Mary’s huge tongue, Boxy and Shorty groped inside my jacket for more fruit. These were outgoing friends, and it was a pleasure to make their acquaintance.
The Garden of Eden enjoyed harmony between animals and humans. We were commissioned to co-govern God’s wooly, scaly, and feathered creatures. Instead, we brought curses into the world that polarized our relationship with animals. They became our sacrificial offerings, or our idols.
Today, the extremes are still in play. We use animals for sport hunting or worship them as domesticated pets. The balance of Eden is long gone. In my lifetime, one half of the planet’s wild animals were eliminated due to destruction of habitat. I don’t want the blood of those crimes on my hands. I must rediscover my calling to godly animal husbandry.
As a follower of Jesus, I have the opportunity to right a few wrongs. I can boycott unsustainable harvests, speak against animal cruelty, and use care that I don’t spend more on my pets than I do on God’s kingdom. There are many ways I can slow this double-edged war against creation.
In the meantime, to Mary, Boxy, and Shorty I want to say, “I’ve been on the wrong side of your suffering. Now let me love and protect you.”
Prayer: Father, help me care for your creation.