It's really difficult to come up with the perfect first blog post. It sets the tone for the rest of the blog, right? I don't want it to be too silly, but it can't be entirely serious. I want it to be worth reading, but not too much to wade through. So far i've decided against posting a spoof of an article i just read titled "Why People Homeschool" and a juxtaposition of the favorite Christian worship songs "Dance in the River" and "A Mighty Fortress is our God." What's that you say? You wanted to see the homeschooling post? Well, maybe it will make an appearance if Luke , my blogging counterpart, allows it. Don't tell him, but i recently looked under the tarps in his garage that were hiding several boxes labeled "homeschooling supplies." We'll see how it goes.
My wife and i had an interesting exchange yesterday that inspires the rest of this entry. To make a long story short, i had a long week and was just looking forward to something that looked like a day off. On top of it, my pastor's sermon included the phrase "you should be depressed!" I was. And then my wife "volunteered" me to fix someone's car during the Packer game. Yes, the Packer game! To use "Christian-ese," my heart was not in the right place. For those of you who don't know what i am talking about, you know your heart is not in the right place when your wife starts using bible verses against you. Actually, i started it. I told her that i just really wanted to enjoy life right now, and fixing a car was not on my list of life-enjoying experiences at the moment. I implied this idea from Psalm 34 and 1 Peter 3:10. But my wife trumped me by using John 12:25, where Jesus says "whoever loves his life will lose it."
"Dueling verses" episodes usually end in a standstill for us, but this time i decided to go with Jesus and my wife, who seem to always end up on the same team. And i still got to watch the game. But there is still this lingering question, what exactly did Jesus mean? I usually tend to enjoy life. I mean, that's kind of why we're doing this blog, after all, for enjoyment and edification. It would seem that God would want us to love life according to 1 Peter 3:10, but what's the basis for Jesus' comment? I have a few thoughts, but i really want to hear yours first...
It's kind of ironic, but that verse in context seems to suggest that loving life is doing good. So the question is whether helping fix the car was doing good or was watching the Packer Game.
ReplyDeleteThis story reminds me of a classic Ma & Pa Boersma episode ~ Enter one old beater car, filled with rambunctious children, Pa at the helm, Ma as co-pilot... If I remember rightly, it was a typical Wisconsin winter day, about 30 below. We pass someone broken down on the side of the highway and keep puttering right on by. Ma Boersma, ever-so-quietly, ever-so-gently: "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." (James 4:17) You can about imagine the rest... I think this was the time that they ate all of our cookies? (But Pa tells that story much better than I)
ReplyDelete@ Faith - Ha! I remember that story! Except I remember that your dad promptly turned the car around and went back!
ReplyDelete@ Andy - You found my secret stash of home-school paraphernalia? I guess now we HAVE to have a blog-series on homeschooling...
He's made it so that only true, all satisfying enjoyment of this life can be found in Him alone and in doing what glorifies Him most. We are able to enjoy this life completey, but we must seek out His agenda to do it. Seeking anything but that is not enjoyment as he intended for it to be. Following Christ means being willing to lose everything in order to honor Christ's life, example and sacrifice.
ReplyDelete