christian

You have searched me, LORD, 
   and you know me. Psalm 139:1

As a father has compassion on his children, 
   so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 
¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed, 
   he remembers that we are dust.  Psalm 103:13,14

I have an app on my iPad that tracks me when I ride my bike. It knows the route, speed and height above sea level. If I turn the volume up, a voice even tells me how well, or usually, how poorly, I am doing. If I think about it, this can feel a little creepy: an invisible satellite stalking me. The good thing is that I can switch the app off.  However, this oversight pales into insignificance when we consider God’s oversight of us.

Psalms 103 and 139 give us some sense of the absolute comprehensiveness of God’s

Old Stone Church Eidfjord Norway

knowledge of us. His intimate understanding of our weaknesses, needs, aspirations – our very being is completely known to Him. He knows our composition, the dust, the atoms and neurons. Even deeper down, He knows our heart and soul.

Humanly, I have two choices: obedience or disobedience. I can either heed God or disobey. The alternatives are stark and simple.

The outcomes however, are eternal. Either I live before my God as one who acknowledges that His intimate knowledge of me is for my own good and His Kingdom purposes or not. The alternative, that  Psalm 103 implies,   is that if I live in rebellion and rejection, He doesn’t forgive and He doesn’t bless.

As the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard suggested, objections to God are not essentially about doubt, but disobedience (Total Church by Chester and Timmis page 171).  What is your response, one of faith, trust and reliance, or rebellion?

The choice is clear.

God is our refuge and strength, 
   an ever-present help in trouble.  Psalm 46:1

The Walls of Avila

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Eph 2:10

If God is the Craftsman then I am His creation. But wait, if He is the Master Craftsman then …

I am God’s masterpiece!

A masterpiece is an expression of the heart of the artist.

A masterpiece is created to ‘reveal’ the artist’s message.

A masterpiece lasts.

A masterpiece is not to be hidden but to be displayed as a reflection of the artist.

A masterpiece reveals the craftsmanship/artisan-ship of its creator.

A masterpiece is of great value.

Prayer: Thank you Creator God for recreating me to reflect your son, for the purpose of living for you. Amen

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Cor 5:17

I am a Flickr addict. I love the cross section of life that it reveals. There is one rather whimsical group that I am particularly fond of – “Stick Figures in Peril”. These are the ubiquitous warning signs that surround us everyday – around work sites and dangerous places, like cliff edges.

These signs reveal so much about us, and some of the revelations are contradictory. We want to be protected and warned so that we don’t harm ourselves, but on the other hand we can often be so foolish and mindless that obvious things still need to be said.

I haven’t come across a stick figure that warns us about the problem of missing out on a relationship with God. Maybe a clever graphic designer could make one. But many of us, even though we secretly know there is a supreme being, live and act as though there isn’t.

Jesus’ disciple, Thomas, asked a simple but profound question, “How do I know the way (into the presence of God)?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

The answer is like one of those stick figure signs that we need to heed for safety’s sake. It is a sign saying, that secret belief that sometimes crosses your mind that there is a supreme being, is true. More importantly, that supreme being says, come to me through the doorway that my son has prepared for you.

Jesus’ invitation to enter into the presence of God involves, forgiveness, renewal and eternal life. Isn’t that a “sign” worth heeding?