The New Precious

How pleasant it is to notice still more ways in which God differs from His creation!

The Koh-i-Noor diamond is a stunning piece of the history of India, an exceptionally large gem that was unearthed hundreds of years ago.  For a time, it reigned as the largest diamond in the world.  Generations of rulers and aristocrats have regarded it with calculating eyes, and as one might expect of an oversized diamond, it has passed rather forcibly through many hands and nations over the years, being carried away time and again in the aftermath of some conflict.  This gem currently resides in the Tower of London.

It is large, rare, and old, and so increasingly precious.  This axiomatic:  a thing is hard to come by, or it ages through the centuries, and so becomes precious.  Be it a Stradivarius, a first-edition Dumas, a Colt-Paterson 1836, or a photograph of a 19th century ancestor, scarcity generates "precious." 

So says the world, and so it often contents itself with this sort of "precious" - and to be honest, there is some truth here, of course.  The intent here is not to puncture our notion of preciousness, but rather to demonstrate how wonderfully precious God's character is, and in an entirely unique manner.  Think about this a moment - if you told me that there was something which was found throughout the world, and could be had freely, and would never wear out, and indeed more could always be had, I would conclude you were speaking in riddles, and perhaps the answer was "dirt."  "Precious" would not be the first adjective I would ascribe.

Of course we refer not to dirt in this description, by to the nature of our Lord!  If we can turn our thoughts from dirt and the like, and consider instead God's character, then things curiously transform.  Let us consult the authority and take a brief sampling:

• God's ways are unsearchable.  (Rom. 11:33)
• God's judgments are unfathomable.  (Rom. 11:33)
• God's wisdom and knowledge are profoundly deep.  (Rom. 11:33)
• God's love surpasses knowledge (Eph. 3:19) and extends to the heavens (Ps. 103:11)
• God's peace surpasses comprehension (Phil. 4:7)
• God's faithful love never ends (Lam. 3:22)
• God's mercy is rich (Eph. 2:4)
• God's grace is surpassingly rich (Eph. 2:7)
• God's sovereignty encompasses all (Ps. 103:19)

Thus the things God is, and the things God does, are precious, but they are not rare; they are superabundant!  Were all believers, for instance, to devote themselves to standing on the nearest street corner and crying out continually of our Lord's abudant forgiveness and saving love, and were each of us seeing ten lost souls come to repentance in every hour, we would no more risk exhausting the extents of that love and forgiveness than I would risk blotting out the sun by standing atop the CN Tower.

The outpourings of God's character upon us are exquisite, but not fragile; valuable, but not rare; priceless, but not locked away; as old as time, but new every morning.  How then do we explain how wonderfully precious He and His character are to us?  It is simply as follows:  the preciousness of God's character does not stem from its scarcity, but from its perfection.  Who God is, and what He does, are so entirely and unfailingly perfect that He immeasurably distinguishes Himself from His own creation until even His holy seraphim, who have never tasted evil, cannot look upon Him, and and are pleased perpetually to cry out His utter holiness (Is. 6:2-3). 

This perfection, and the incontestable separation that it brokers, mean that God possesses what we cannot.  Here we perceive the scarcity of it - it is alien to our fallen sensibilities - and when by those very perfections our spiritual eyes are opened in salvation to the sheer wonder of God, He is made exceedingly precious to our hearts.  We are prostrated before the glorious grace He bestows, and then are pressed down again as we perceive the magnitude of grace yet promised but not dispensed, an infinity of unceasing glory which will serve through long and tireless epochs to increasingly demonstrate just how precious He has been all along.

Our Lord Jesus, grant that we should regard you with the value that is Your glorious and unique due, and may appropriate and genuine worship issue not only from our minds and our hearts, but from our hands in service to You alone!

God’s Character is Our Lifeline

Some years ago, I was traveling through California with my family, and we occasioned to cross the mighty Sacramento River via ferry (indeed, you read that correctly.  It was an Oregon Trail moment, although we were not obliged to caulk the minivan and float it across the river).  After a short wait, as the ferry eventually began to move across the calm river, some of us did not even notice, so smooth and quiet was the transition (and the realization was, yes, the most riveting moment of the entire crossing).

Sadly, the transition from the bedrock of godly faithfulness to the unsounded ocean of spiritual apathy is often much the same.  We do not always take note of our passing from terra firma to gloomy waters.  The truly difficult and tragic part comes when we look about and comprehend at last that we are adrift in this expansive ocean of spiritual sluggishness, but, by definition, find ourselves unable to overcome the strong currents which have been pulling us from the shore. 

 What does this look like in the believer's life?  A Christian realizes that he has grown distant from the Lord by his own inaction.  His misspent energies have propelled him away from his Savior, and he is repulsed (though perhaps not very strongly) by the selfish pride he finds issuing freely from his own heart.  This Christian knows what he must do - he must draw near to the Lord through prayer and through the study of God's Word, but one thing remains elusive:  conviction.  Prayers are stuttered until their momentum is squandered.  The mind returns to other pursuits.  The Bible is read, but it is cursory and halfhearted.  The eyes falter and the heart is unmoved.  The apathy deepens.  Does this sound at all familiar, reader? 

The problem is that we are attempting to rid ourselves of the apathy without addressing the very cause of the apathy.  It is like having a knife stuck in one's abdomen, and carefully applying a bandage around it.  We are saying, "I need to change my spiritual unconcern," but what we need to be saying is, "I need to refocus my selfish and wayward heart upon the Lord."  It is a subtle change on the surface, perhaps, but it makes worlds of difference - one seeks to repair self, while the other desires to return to a humble intimacy with God.  Do you see that the first statement has not served to remove our gaze from ourselves, and so is not very far removed from the condition of apathy?  Spiritual apathy is the result of spiritual distance.  Spiritual humilty is the fuel that diminishes this distance.

 

It seems, then, that the best course is to lay ourselves entirely aside for the time being, stop worrying about our apathy in and of itself, and start considering the character of our God.  Open the Psalms, not because they are easy or lightweight, but because you are certain to find the Lord's true praises proclaimed for His name and deeds.  Seek that praiseworthy character, and when you have found even a morsel of it, stop and consider it in all of its glory.  Savor the excellence of your God, friend!  Marvel at His flawless character - look as intently as you like, for you will never discover even the tiniest fault.  Take whichever element of His fame you have come across in the Psalms, and think how your Lord, by means of this attribute, continues to affect your life.  Are you pondering His unchanging character?  Then rejoice that this faithfulness allows you trust His promises!  Perhaps you see His justice, and you know therefore that you are secure in your salvation. 

This is a rich and generous tally of blessings indeed, and it steels a heart with joy to delve into it, for God has made us both to interact with His character and to desire His character.  We understand His character as it touches upon our lives - we are rendered humble and grateful when we see Him near and at work.  Look for Him, brother!  Do not rest until your desire for the Lord is rekindled, sister!  We cannot and should not expect satisfaction from merely human pursuits or human excellencies - God has designed us to desire more (Ecc. 3:11), and we cannot be content with any less.

 

Immerse yourself in the Lord, then, and be glad for His excellencies.  Go to Him in prayer, for it is from this stronghold that we praise Christ unselfishly, that we seek His forgiveness readily, and that we beseech His intervention earnestly, even if it is intervention in our own languid hearts.  Put simply, it is here that apathy becomes but a memory, for the heart that made glad by God's character is not one that remains unmoved by His grace and His promises. 

 

"Great are the works of the Lord;
They are studied by all who delight in them.
Splendid and majestic is His work,
And His righteousness endures forever.

He has made His wonders to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and compassionate."

- Psalm 111:2-4