our treasure - the gospel
I have always been intrigued at how after his conversion to Christ, Paul did not immediately immerse himself in any ministry - he waited years and years. "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus." (Gal. 1:15-17)
God Himself was Paul's one and only source. Source for good news, source for life. And Paul went away to be with Him and to appropriate (or claim) all that was his in Christ.
Given, Paul had quite the reputation as a persecutor and a murderer of any Christ-followers. It was fitting for him to take himself out of the spotlight for a while...if he had come out immediately declaring himself a believer - who would really have believed him anyway?
but Paul was more concerned about the gospel - he received the gospel from the revelation of Jesus Christ and no man...could it be that he waited so long because he wanted to get the gospel right...exactly right?
the following is not meant as "i've got all my stuff together" by any means because if you know me at all, you know that just ain't true - I'm a mess!...but I have been thinking back to what i used to believe to be true (about me, Christ, the gospel and other people) - and now I think - how did I live like that?? how miserable! does anyone else think about that? katie and i were talkin last night about how it takes TIME for truth to click with people. It's okay if I/you/we don't get it right away. Processes - understanding, healing - take time. I went through Study One two whole times before I began to really "get it". In my adolescent development class this summer, I learned that developing any new self-concept is extremely hard and takes time. Praise the Lord that we can lean on Him even when we don't understand!! "trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths" - Proverbs 3:5,6.
don't laugh, but there is a symbollic tie between my brother David and Paul. stay with me here I promise this will make sense. When my brother gets a new toy - gadget, big truck, whatever - he loves to tinker with it. I think a lot of men do this. He likes to take it apart and see how it works and then put it back together. This is one of his joys! In my mind, I imagine Paul doing this with the gospel and with God. Paul was an extremely intelligent man and probably loved to know the ins and outs of everything! Maybe like my brother, Paul took his new "treasure", went away, and immersed himself in it and then, when he felt ready, took it out for a spin (so to speak).
"the kingdom of heaven [or the gospel] is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." - Matthew 13:44
God Himself was Paul's one and only source. Source for good news, source for life. And Paul went away to be with Him and to appropriate (or claim) all that was his in Christ.
Given, Paul had quite the reputation as a persecutor and a murderer of any Christ-followers. It was fitting for him to take himself out of the spotlight for a while...if he had come out immediately declaring himself a believer - who would really have believed him anyway?
but Paul was more concerned about the gospel - he received the gospel from the revelation of Jesus Christ and no man...could it be that he waited so long because he wanted to get the gospel right...exactly right?
the following is not meant as "i've got all my stuff together" by any means because if you know me at all, you know that just ain't true - I'm a mess!...but I have been thinking back to what i used to believe to be true (about me, Christ, the gospel and other people) - and now I think - how did I live like that?? how miserable! does anyone else think about that? katie and i were talkin last night about how it takes TIME for truth to click with people. It's okay if I/you/we don't get it right away. Processes - understanding, healing - take time. I went through Study One two whole times before I began to really "get it". In my adolescent development class this summer, I learned that developing any new self-concept is extremely hard and takes time. Praise the Lord that we can lean on Him even when we don't understand!! "trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths" - Proverbs 3:5,6.
don't laugh, but there is a symbollic tie between my brother David and Paul. stay with me here I promise this will make sense. When my brother gets a new toy - gadget, big truck, whatever - he loves to tinker with it. I think a lot of men do this. He likes to take it apart and see how it works and then put it back together. This is one of his joys! In my mind, I imagine Paul doing this with the gospel and with God. Paul was an extremely intelligent man and probably loved to know the ins and outs of everything! Maybe like my brother, Paul took his new "treasure", went away, and immersed himself in it and then, when he felt ready, took it out for a spin (so to speak).
"the kingdom of heaven [or the gospel] is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." - Matthew 13:44
posted by Susan Gordon at 6:01 AM
2 Comments:
true that sister. our Lord is amazing. i love how it is all designed. we MUST go to HIm for everything, which make sense because He is everything. its such a simple design. the very fact that we cannot understand it all at once, leads us always to HIm. we can save ourselves some heartache if we just discipline ourselves to always go to Him first. our heart has to ache when we go elsewhere because a heart new in Christ beats according to Him, it craves His presence and is torn when we follow our flesh toward the world. mmm, God Bless the blog and such amazing women like you!!!
Susan, this was perfect. I wrote my first blog before I read this and I think it is exactly what I was saying. I love you girl.
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