- Details
- Written by: Don Goulding
Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, and because of greed have abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error; hence, they will certainly perish in Korah’s rebellion. Jude 1:11 (NETFull)
The largest facet on top gleams with pristine silver light. Two of the planes show color. One is mountain sky blue, the other holds a rainbow spanning yellow to fuchsia. Each of the eight triangle cuts is razor-clean, forming the tapered cylinder of the perfect diamond.
Beware, oh lover, don’t be deceived dear bride, that rarest of gems symbolizing a sacrificial vow may well be a counterfeit made of cubic zirconia. Zirconia looks, cuts and sparkles like diamond but it’s manmade. Naturally occurring diamonds are much rarer and therefore truly expensive.
Cain brought produce from the ground as an offering to the Lord. He invented his own sacrifice without seeking what God approved. Balaam intended on cursing the Israelites but his donkey refused to continue because it had more respect for God than did Balaam. Korah decided his approach to God was as good as Moses’s and his coup of the high priesthood was swallowed into a shortcut to hell.
Cain, Balaam, and Korah all tried to pass cubic zirconia off as diamonds. They offered manmade worship instead of inquiring about God’s terms of devotion. Zirconia worship construes God as we want him to be, while diamond worship lets God reveal himself as he is. Behind the first form of adoration is a preoccupation with me, while the second holds God as primary.
As I talk with people about God, I find the world rife with folks who want the benefits of posing as holy, engaging the supernatural, and going to heaven, but they don’t want to encounter the real God. It’s no wonder because the only path there takes me through the swamp of my sinfulness and who wants to wade in that stench.
To avoid the trap of Cain, Balaam and Korah, I must answer a question—Does my worship source from human imagination or am I pursuing the genuine God as revealed in the Christian Bible?
Prayer: Let me worship the real one true God.
- Details
- 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 (NETFull)
When I was working 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,” an Albanian missionary said with wide eyes.
Sufficiently rebuked, I replaced the Bible with a pillow. It made me wonder 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.
The Bible is the complete and inerrant written word of God and as such its truth must govern my faith. However, I must not allow the Bible to become something it is not. It is not a lucky talisman and it is not the object of my adoration. The truth the Bible contains is to be cherished, not the textual media itself.
Coming from a culture in which we tout our degrees of advanced learning, I catch myself idolizing bookish knowledge about Jesus instead of Jesus himself. He wants so much more than my head learning or rote obedience. He wants to saturate me to the very core.
On close examination every book in the Bible points to Jesus Christ. Genesis promises one to come who will crush Satan. That’s Jesus. The books of the law introduce the need for a sacrificial lamb—Jesus again. All the poetry, prophets, and of course the New Testament speak, at least symbolically, of Jesus. The Bible is a miraculous blessing because the Holy Spirit uses it to carry me to Jesus who is the true and full word of God.
The best way I know to respect Bibles, crosses, angels and whatever else points to Jesus is to not stop short at worship of them, but to go all the way to Jesus himself so that I may have life—full, eternal, really fun life.
Prayer: Jesus, Holy Word of God, consume me.
- Details
- 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 (NETFull)
An African farmer introduced me to his three elephants—Mary, Boxy and Shorty. They were characters who snatched the man’s hat away in a game of keep-away.
You can tell an elephant’s personality by how it uses its trunk. They greet each other by intertwining trunks and even have special trunk displays for courtship and mother-child interactions. Some twist around objects to the left, others to the right.
As I reached into Mary’s mouth to lay oranges on her tongue, Boxy and Shorty groped inside my coat with their trunks for more fruit. These were outgoing, curious friends and it was a pleasure to make their acquaintance.
In the Garden of Eden an anointed relationship was inaugurated between animals and humans. We were to co-govern God’s wooly, scaly and feathered creatures. Instead, we brought curses into the world and our relationship with animals went topsy-turvy. They no longer enjoyed our protection but became our sacrificial offerings, or the exact opposite, our gods.
Even today we seem to use animals for sport hunting or worship them under the guise of domesticated pets. The balance conferred on us in Eden disappeared into a gray fog. In my lifetime, one half of the world’s wild animals died due to human destruction of habitat. I don’t want the blood of that crime on my hands. I must rediscover my calling to godly husbandry.
Living in the post crucifixion of Jesus era, I have a chance 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. If I’m truly filled with the Spirit of Christ, he’ll show me a great many ways to reverse this double-edged war against creation.
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.