We are at this moment as close to God as we
really choose to be. True, there are times when we
would like to know a deeper intimacy, but when it comes to
the point, we are not prepared to pay the price involved.
really choose to be. True, there are times when we
would like to know a deeper intimacy, but when it comes to
the point, we are not prepared to pay the price involved.
- J. Oswald Sanders
Continuing from the previous post about insight, some use the think-out-of-the-box approach to stretching ourselves. I have a hang-up on the thinking-out-of-the-box "fad." My experience is it leads to lack of responsibility and fickleness. Yes, fickleness. LOL. Instead of digging into life, thinking-out-of-the-box allows one to escape the struggle of reality. Oh, and this thinking of mine isn't something new. See my profile and the "In-the-Box-Thinking" blog I started years ago (now DannyLSmith.com).
Thinking-out-of-the-box doesn't cause one to stretch. Thinking-out-of-the-box only adds to the confusion. When I want stretch myself, I stay-in-the-box and dig deeper. God made me in His image. I need to raise my lid, from within...searching for the answer inside...that causes a stretch you can't even imagine.
God tells us we are "made in His image" at least 6 times in the Old and New Testament. Wow. What does that really mean, to be made in His image? What would it have been like with sin? What would it be like live, and see ourselves "in His image?" That takes some digging through a mess of things we've piled into our "box."
How glorious that would be, to discover how glorious He made me. Proverbs 25:2 says "In His glory, God conceals matters. The glory of kings is to search matters out." I think that means from the inside-out, gaining insight and being reconstructed. And to Mr. Sanders point, am I willing to pay the price for the intimacy of the reconstruction?
To that end....
