The Word Became Flesh

John 1:1-14
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

This is perhaps one of the most treasured passages of the entire Bible. In several short paragraphs we get a glimpse into the infinite love and grace of the eternal God who chose to dwell among those whom he created and to save and bring them into his family. It is truly revealing of the great wisdom of God that he can make this message understandable to a child, and at the same time blow our minds with things that are seemingly more incomprehensible the deeper we go. Who can understand these great truths? A child. Who can penetrate to the core of God’s heart and mind? No one.

Let just one drop of water from the Word’s eternal fountain of love and grace touch the tips of the tongues of those, who with parched and sticky throats, are dying of thirst. Their thirst will be quenched and they will live forever—not by some fairy tale magic of a fountain of youth, but by the life that is in the eternal Word of God.

That the Word became flesh and dwelt among us has a fairy tale quality about it, so much so that some are quick to dismiss it as just that—a fairy tale. But why do we invent stories that speak of things that capture the imagination and inspire a sense of wonder? Is it not because we hunger to be filled with awe? Do we not thirst and seek for things that are grand and beyond us? Things that transcend the bubble of our often monotonous daily existence?

People watch certain movies so they can be caught up in a grand, powerful, creative drama and experience its excitement and the vicarious feeling of being involved in something hugely significant. People turn to technology to feed their hunger for the amazing and unbelievable. Sports fans cheer by the millions and are charged by the feeling of being part of something that excites them and represents them. Adventure seekers climb mountains, jump out of planes, rappel into caverns, and raft wild rivers to experience something that will make their hearts pound and adrenaline pump. People want to be moved. They feel as if life should not be ordinary. There is no shortage of books that try to help people help themselves overcome the ordinary. We all want it. We want something bigger than us, something grand into which our little lives can be absorbed and find their fulfillment. We’re all looking for it. We just turn to different things. What will satiate and at the same time fuel this hunger for wonder?

I believe the food and the fuel for wonder are found in John chapter one. The Word has always been God. The Word is God. The universe was made through the Word. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. God became one of us. For what? To bring us into the life of God, a life which no one can have apart from the Word. There is eternal life in the infinitely loving and gracious God. He is the infinite fountain of all that inspires matchless wonder. He is what we are seeking. He invites us to drink.

What's so funny, Grace?

I submit to you that this is one of the cutest things ever photo- graphed.

Love your God with all your mind

Jesus said that the greatest commandment of all, the commandment that carries the most weight, is "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." It means loves God with your whole person, with all that you are.

We often hear that love is more than emotion, that it's an act of the will. This, I believe, is true. Sure, a husband and wife can fall out of love, but what they really mean is they don't "feel love" for one another like they used to. True love, God's kind of love, says you remain committed to your spouse and desire and do what is truly good for him or her. It's great when emotion and the will line up, but if emotion is gone for the moment (or however long), it matters not, at least with regard to the essence of love, which is an unwavering commitment to the highest good of another.

Now, to get to my main thought...

I have a thought tonight about loving God with my mind. I'm currently studying for my theology test and working on a big assignment. With what feels like a mountain of other things that require my time and attention, I don't feel like studying. I'm tired. This causes some dissonance in me because here I am studying, reflecting on, and learning about wonderful truths about God, things that in my heart bring me deep joy, and yet there is a feeling of dread about this task of studying for the test and completing assignments. So I started thinking about the greatest commandment to love God. Loving God with my mind is included in that command.

If love were only a feeling, I'd close the books, push back from my desk, and perhaps try to feel love toward God without this mental strain. But how can I feel love for someone unless I know something about them. True, to know someone is different from merely knowing things about them. But you can't truly know someone without knowing things about them. When it comes to loving God (as in all meaningful personal relationships) you need both. The two (knowing and knowing about) should not be separated. If we are to know God personally we must seek to understand the truth about him as he himself has revealed in the Scripture. The two are joined.

It's been wisely said before, "Theology without piety (my personal reverence for God) is sterile abstraction. Piety without theology is empty emotionalism."

I don't want the pressure of my studies to pour water on my fire for God. Rather, I want my studies to be gasoline for the fire, even if my emotions at the moment are not where I would like them to be, for true love involves commtiment of the will. Therefore, God help me, God help us, to love you with our minds, our hearts, our souls, our strength.

What we ALL need more of

I haven't had time lately to post anything meaningful. But today I made the effort because in conversation with my friends Aaron and Monica, we were reflecting on something important: We ALL need more cow bell in our lives.