May 21, 2016
Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Quote of the Week
Book I. Section 6. Unrestrained Affections
1. When someone wants something too much, inner turmoil results. Proud and covetous persons never rest. Modest and humble persons respond to hearts crowded with peace. Notice the person not yet aware that self takes one to a dead-end street. Mere trifles rouble that person. That person also yields to weakness; orients life around material possessions; entertains sensual thoughts; turns only half-heartedly from sin; suffers conflicts; angers easily when opposed.
2. When we allow our appetites to control us, we soon suffer disquiet coupled with remorse of conscience. Why yielding to passions profits nothing in achieving the sought-for peace. How, then, do we come to true quietness of heart? By resisting excess; not by giving in to it.
To summarize: Peace deserts the sensual heart. Peace deserts the worldly heart. Peace comes to the genuinely spiritual person. Peace comes to the authentically devout.
Thomas a’Kempis from his timeless classic, The Imitation of Christ. Edited and paraphrased by my dear friend, the late Don Demaray.
Note to Readers. For the next season ahead I will be sharing excerpts from this book, one of the most significant writings in Christian history, and likely the second best selling book of all time next to the Bible itself.
DO THE 5.14.16 SIXTH DAY EXERCISE HERE.
In case you are just joining us, each week we share in an exercise called “The Sixth Day Exercise.” As Genesis 1 has it, God created human beings in his own image on the sixth day. Genesis 3 shows us the desecration of the image of God in our race which has only compounded itself across the centuries. It’s why the Image Bearer himself, Jesus Christ, came. His life, death, resurrection and ascension reversed the curse of sin and death and created a pathway whereby our broken race could be made gloriously whole again; restored to the Creator’s intent. Paul put it this way:
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22.
Given we were made on the Sixth Day, it makes sense that we might stop and assess how it’s going on the long journey of being “remade” on each successive sixth day.
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J.D. Walt serves as Seedbed’s Sower in Chief. jd.walt@seedbed.com.