Bringing low the lofty truths!

Stepping out into the frigid winter air, I pull my hood tighter as the wind blows strong, threatening to push me clean over!

Honk! Honk! The sound falls onto my ears as I continue on, walking briskly so as not to be late to my class. I lift my eyes to the sky and catch the sight of the geese flying ore my head. What a breath-taking sight they are against the pink, blue, and purple hues cast on the clouds by the rising sun. I take a deep breath, thanking God for the beauty of this early morning and His good earth.

Focusing back onto the sidewalk, I note a tiny sparrow, hopping about. Scaring it, I watch as it flurries off to take shelter in the big pine tree.

Light flakes of snow begin falling, as I walk into the warmth of a building. In moments I will sit under the teaching of a professor, who will share some deep and profound truths from scripture itself, or drawing from the principles of it. But oh how I have already been taught that morning! No, not from the musings of humans, but rather from God’s good earth, and the creatures! Much is to be learned in the classrooms of faith, but much also can be learned outside of those walls amongst the creatures and plants that God has given as well.

So what could be learned from my walk from dorm to classroom? Starting with the wind, I am reminded of God’s power, and sheer ability to move me where ere He good and well pleases! Next the geese, they fly on and on, striving together to reach a destination, all the while they honk at one another. They do this to encourage each other to keep going, which is what I should be doing with the fellow Christian’s around me! We are all headed in the same general direction: Christlikeness. Like the geese, I have been given a voice box to be used to share encouraging words to help others keep going!

From the sparrows can be learned God’s special care, for in His Word He states that He cares for even them! How much the more does He care for me! Last of all, the snow is a reminder of many things. In scripture is talked about as coming like fresh snow, and it is also a reminder of Christ’s work on the cross and the forgiveness found in that and how we are washed whiter than snow! So you see, many profound truths (Power of God, edification of the saints, God’s sovereignty and providence, and God’s Word and Salvation), were there for me to be reminded long before I stepped foot into my classroom! How much we so often miss!

I am always refreshed and challenged when I read written works with things that are drawn from nature to teach a profound truth of God. Jesus did it countless times: the sparrows, lilies of the field, water, bread, light and countless others! He would take something loft, sovereignty of God, and use something He created to illustrate that teaching, thus bringing it low enough for us to grasp and understand.

It’s like a small child who desires a cookie from off of the counter and cant reach, but then his father takes notice and brings it down to the child’s level for the child to enjoy:

The chubby mud-stained fingers reach out strenuously. Little grunts escape the small pink lips. The little guy sticks his tongue out, as he tries yet again. The smell of the warm cookies on the counter has pervaded the entire home. He begins to salivate, at the thought of the gooey chocolate encased in warm sugar dough, as he once again tries to reach “If only I were just a foot taller…” After several more tries, frustrated he slinks slowly to the ground. Tears form in his clear blue eyes, “Just one cookie…”

“Daniel” His father’s voice startles him. Looking up into the concern filled face of his father; the boy sniffles and dries his tears. “Daniel, why are you crying son?” His father asks as he stoops to the boy’s level. “I…I wanted to give Timmy a cookie…he has been so sick with that cancer, and I thought this would cheer him up…but no one was here…and I couldn’t reach the cookies and…” Fresh tears form on the four year old’s face. “Oh Danny, how thoughtful of you, no worries my dear child.” With that his father stands tall, what seems like a sky scraper’s height to the little boy. The sun shines brightly giving his father a certain glow as he effortlessly reaches for a cookie. “My dad’s a hero!” Stooping back to his son’s level, his father gently hands him the cookie. Taking it with a huge smile, Danny hugs his father and walks gingerly to the door. Turning before he exits to take his cookie to Timmy, Danny says to his smiling father “Thankyou daddy! I love you!”

This is what I imagine it was like when Jesus shared His high truths of heaven in the form of a parable to the lowly people of earth. We, like the young boy, are unable of our own accord to reach up and grasp and fully understand the great truths of God, and apart from Jesus using parables and from the Holy Spirit enlightening us. Jesus is like the father in the story, reaching something high that we could not have otherwise gotten ourselves!
Much can be said of someone who is able to write this way. To write in such a way that things that are high and lofty, that almost seem totally foreign and unrelated to us, suddenly seem right on our level, and real, like we are able to reach out and touch. To write in such a way that we more easily identify with the characters, feeling what they felt, seeing what they saw.

Much is also to be said of a writer who is able to take a lofty truth and bring it low for us to grasp and understand! Christ did just this in His parables! Like the father at the outset of this paper, Christ helps to bring some rich cookies, to the floor level for all to reach and enjoy!

Whats your favorite parable and why? Mine is the Prodigal son and the lost sheep (Luke 15)