Old woman Reading the Bible

Gerrit Dou, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons

You see here in Luke 24:45 how Jesus not only reminds his disciples of the Scriptures, which they knew very well but also he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. They had the Scriptures but they were coming to them with closed minds. They needed illumination. And that’s what we all need. You have heard of the great painter Rembrandt. There is a painting in Amsterdam said to be of his mother reading the Bible which I always assumed was by him but I think it is by another artist called Gerrit Dou. The way he paints it the page of the Bible is lit up and it reflects in her face. Our problem is that we cannot see. We need first the spectacles of the Word. Then the reading light of the Spirit. Word and Spirit. I wonder if there’s anyone reading this in a sort of halfway position. You’ve seen that the answer is in the Bible. You need a revelation. You need to see behind the curtain. But you’re reading it and not making much progress. You are looking behind the curtain but it all still seems dark. Have you seen your need for illumination too? That’s why we usually pray before reading the Word. We need light to see the light. In your light let me see light (Psalm 36:9).

Copernicus

It is easy to think that the sun goes around the earth as the Greek philosopher Ptolemy taught but the truth is, as the Polish astronomer Copernicus discovered that the earth goes round the sun. The sun in fact is at the centre of the solar system and we need a Copernican revolution in our lives and thinking so that we see that God is at the centre of everything. He is the one to whom all the glory should be given. 

Is God great?

In 2007, the late Christopher Hitchens published a book called God is not great in which he attempts to rubbish religion. In fact, God is great. I don't know if Hitchins was responding to Chris Tomlin's 2004 song. He put it like this

The splendour of a King, clothed in majesty, Let all the Earth rejoice. All the Earth rejoice,

He wraps himself in light And darkness tries to hide And trembles at His voice, Trembles at His voice

How great is our God, sing with me, How great is our God, and all will see How great, how great is our God

Or to quote an older hymn

O Lord my God When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy pow’r throughout The universe displayed!

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee;

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Hitchens is wrong and Tomlin and Carl Boberg are right

The needle of faith

Freepik

If you want to sew something you can push many different sorts of thread through cloth but they all have to have a needle at the end if they are going to go through. In the same way everything needs to be headed up with faith – all your prayers, all your actions, all you do. W
ithout faith, you'll get nowhere.

Best when chilled

I was eating in a Pret A Manger restaurant recently and I had one of their bottled drinks. Their still water and juice blends and other drinks are best enjoyed chilled and so on their bottles there is a message emphasising this. Very neatly they say that these drinks are "best when chilled (as indeed we all are)". That is quite true. In James 1:19, 20 James says My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. There is a place for anger, of course (Ephesians 4:26) but the general rule is to chill.

'Dwi'n hoffi coffi

I met someone who told me he'd tried to learn Welsh using dualingo or something similar. Trouble was, he said, was that one of the first things he had learned was that "'Dwi'n hoffi coffi" means "I like coffee", which is correct. He thought it was all going to be that easy. No one had told him about mutations and how inflected Welsh can be. In a similar way, though it is easy to come to Christ - simply repent and believe - the Christian life itself can be very demanding. This is why in Luke 14 (28-32) Jesus emphasises the importance of counting the cost before beginning. We have to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).

Generous Pantomime Host

Some people find themselves incapable of giving you just one gift. They always have to give you more. I remember as a child seeing a pantomime in the theatre where they had a child on stage and they kept giving them gifts. You know, they say here's some crisps and then as the child is about to go they say "that will make you thirsty so here's some lemonade" and then they say "after the lemonade you'll probably want some chocolate", etc, etc. First they have a pile in their arms and then a carrier bag full and then a shopping trolley full and so on. (It's a good opportunity for a local sypermarket to get some free advertising, I guess). When God gives a gift he seems to work on this sort of basis. He never gives just one gift. If he simply forgave us our sins that would be amazing but he does so much more. We get some hints in Isaiah 55:12, 13 - joy and peace and gladness and rejoicing and heaven. When God converts a person he doesn't only save them. He forgives them and makes them his child and takes them to heaven and gives them all sorts of good things. That is what it is like when you put your faith in Christ. God does not just give one blessing.