It’s the kind of morning one wants to burst out with:
“Oh what a beautiful morning,
Oh what a beautiful day.
I’ve got wonderful feeling,
Everything’s going my way.”
Well, right now it is cloudy bright, but the weather man says maybe we’ll set a new heat record today. As if we needed that this early in the season. But there it is. So we might as well burst into song. (Bob, you’re excused from singing).
The Bible is full of metaphors. Jesus used them often to teach. “You are the salt of the earth” He said. And the picture set in our minds speaks of something that gives flavor, that heals, that preserves, that tenderizes. And as the thought grows in the mind, the teaching He is doing becomes clear to us. You are to make a difference by what you do and say here. You are worth something and have a place in the work of the kingdom here.
Or the next, “You are the light of the world”. What could be clearer than that? The Psalmist said, “Thy Word is a lamp to my feet a light to my path.” Ps. 119.105. Short and clear and it tends to stick to the mind. A word guides, explains, enlightens. And that is what the Bible is for us. The verse in Psalm 119 makes that perfectly clear without using a lot of words. And the Lamp to guide or way in a dark night, especially when we are walking in strange territory, and we are that, pilgrims as all our Fathers were, teaches the psalm.
Metaphors. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”. We need no more than that to help calm any fear and comfort us during time of great stress.
“God is my Rock”. Or we speak of a “house built on sand”. The picture comes from the Scripture when it teaches us to make sure the foundation we are using is solid, correct, firm.
“We are like sheep going astray” 1 Peter 2,25/Isaiah writes,” We, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord laid on HIM the iniquity of us all.” Is. 53,6. That line tells us what happened, and why Jesus came and why He died, for ‘the iniquity of us all”. He died for the sins of the world.
Thus the metaphor draws a picture in our minds, and set the truth to make it be remembered better. The picture evoked by the metaphor does the teaching much better than many pages of explanation.
I remember waiting for a ride one time with a fellow Pastor when a car drove up, the window slid down, and a driver asked about an address. My companion started to explain why Panther Creek was listed as N and W when I said, “The address you want is that building right over there.” That’s all the driver wanted, not a dissertation on why the naming of a street N and W made any difference.
So when we read the Bible, see what a difference word pictures make in making a thought clear. Jesus wanted us to have the truth as clearly as our mind can grasp it, for it means our eternal life is involved. St. Paul said, I speak of this one thing as Most Important, “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst”. Have that truth always clearly in mind. God bless the teaching.
GPD 5/7/09
“Oh what a beautiful morning,
Oh what a beautiful day.
I’ve got wonderful feeling,
Everything’s going my way.”
Well, right now it is cloudy bright, but the weather man says maybe we’ll set a new heat record today. As if we needed that this early in the season. But there it is. So we might as well burst into song. (Bob, you’re excused from singing).
The Bible is full of metaphors. Jesus used them often to teach. “You are the salt of the earth” He said. And the picture set in our minds speaks of something that gives flavor, that heals, that preserves, that tenderizes. And as the thought grows in the mind, the teaching He is doing becomes clear to us. You are to make a difference by what you do and say here. You are worth something and have a place in the work of the kingdom here.
Or the next, “You are the light of the world”. What could be clearer than that? The Psalmist said, “Thy Word is a lamp to my feet a light to my path.” Ps. 119.105. Short and clear and it tends to stick to the mind. A word guides, explains, enlightens. And that is what the Bible is for us. The verse in Psalm 119 makes that perfectly clear without using a lot of words. And the Lamp to guide or way in a dark night, especially when we are walking in strange territory, and we are that, pilgrims as all our Fathers were, teaches the psalm.
Metaphors. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”. We need no more than that to help calm any fear and comfort us during time of great stress.
“God is my Rock”. Or we speak of a “house built on sand”. The picture comes from the Scripture when it teaches us to make sure the foundation we are using is solid, correct, firm.
“We are like sheep going astray” 1 Peter 2,25/Isaiah writes,” We, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord laid on HIM the iniquity of us all.” Is. 53,6. That line tells us what happened, and why Jesus came and why He died, for ‘the iniquity of us all”. He died for the sins of the world.
Thus the metaphor draws a picture in our minds, and set the truth to make it be remembered better. The picture evoked by the metaphor does the teaching much better than many pages of explanation.
I remember waiting for a ride one time with a fellow Pastor when a car drove up, the window slid down, and a driver asked about an address. My companion started to explain why Panther Creek was listed as N and W when I said, “The address you want is that building right over there.” That’s all the driver wanted, not a dissertation on why the naming of a street N and W made any difference.
So when we read the Bible, see what a difference word pictures make in making a thought clear. Jesus wanted us to have the truth as clearly as our mind can grasp it, for it means our eternal life is involved. St. Paul said, I speak of this one thing as Most Important, “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst”. Have that truth always clearly in mind. God bless the teaching.
GPD 5/7/09
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