We, as fallen, earthly, people, view the world through our earth bound understanding. There is nothing we encounter that is not subject to being viewed through a lens that cannot be removed. Scripture writes of things that we cannot comprehend and yet we try to do so anyway.
My husband recently introduced me to a writing by A.W. Pink that is, quite honestly, astounding in it's scope. I found his way of writing to be challenging to read. That added to a difficult, deep, subject was even more challenging. There are some things I can easily read and follow online and others that I simply need more time with. I can read and understand Scripture when reading it online but I do not want to study it that way. For me I need time and the physical connection to the Scriptures to be able to absorb them more fully. So if I'm looking to read a verse or two quickly, to clarify my thoughts, I use Scripture through the internet but if I want to read Scripture for enjoyment or for study I get an actual Bible and I sit with it snugly in my hands.
I have always loved books and readily admit that this whole books online thing stumps me. I understand why one might prefer a single digital device to bookshelves filled with books for the sake of less stuff in your home but I cannot manage to read anything digitally for any great length of time. Then again, the Lord doesn't really let me read books anymore either. I still enjoy them in theory. Like the feel of them in my hands. Like the smell of them. They still feel like old friends. A welcome home after a long time away. But...the Lord does not let me actually read them. I can start one but for some reason He yanks me out of it before I get to finish it. I am, at this very moment, debating on buying a physical copy of the writing by Pink that my husband so recently introduced me to. I would love to read all of it and yet my own mind reminds me that I do not actually like to read man's written words on Scripture. I prefer to go straight to Scripture and skip the writings of men. Still...I would like to read more of what Pink wrote on sanctification and I cannot stick with it to read it online. So I'm debating buying a copy in book form.
I see that book, though, through the same lens I see all others. I realize its a reformed view of Scripture and have enjoyed shorter works written by Pink in the past. But my own mind, the lens through which I view things, reminds me that the Lord has not let me actually read an entire book since I don't know when. And I love to read. I enjoy books. It's not because I am against either books or the reading of them.
I WANT to read them but the Lord, for reasons I don't understand, does not let me read them unless it is Scripture. And so I am wondering at the wisdom of ordering a book that I would like to read but highly doubt I will actually manage to do so.
But that is just one thing, one tiny little thing through which I view something. And it is filtered through the lens of my experience in this earthly life. I used to literally devour books. I loved them. They brought me great joy and filled many of my hours. Granted those hours were filled with useless drivel. The books were not Scripture based and were not profitable for anything beyond entertainment and the passing of time.
I no longer read those kinds of books but the Lord is not letting me read others yet either. We will see if a book form of Pinks work makes it into my hands. Whether or not it does, I am sure I will write more on this topic because I find my mind lingering greatly on it. I simply cannot seem to move past it for some reason.
Somewhere in the small bit of Pinks work on sanctification I read something about the lens through which we view things. He said something to the effect of, we must first learn to associate words with physical things before we can associate them with more abstract ideas.
That made me think of a baby, just learning words. What is the first word they learn? No. Mama. Daddy. Different babies pick up different words first. They must somehow learn to associate this sound to that thing. Imagine how difficult it must be to learn that no means I cannot do this, I can't have that, don't go over there, don't touch that, I don't want that, and so much more. I can't even imagine having to learn to associate a single word with all that no stands for and yet babies have to do so. They often get into trouble when 'no' does not gain the desired result their caretaker is aiming for. And they may not even understand what 'no' meant. Yet they learn.
They also learn 'mama'. Often 'mama' means you, as in their mama, but it also means anyone they want as well as 'drink', 'hungry', 'sleepy', etc. Mama quickly becomes the single word that represents almost everything they want. They see the world through the lens of 'mama' and they apply that lens to everything, whether or not it is the right application.
A baby cannot rightly apply 'mama' or 'no' or 'daddy' for some time. How many times is Daddy called 'mama' or Uncle Joe called 'daddy'? It's just the way of things with babies as they learn to rightly apply words and navigate in this world.
We all must learn Scripture in the same way. We must apply what we know to what we don't know. I can well remember when I would have had no idea what sanctification meant. When I first met my husband he called me a nominal Christian. I didn't even know what that meant. A couple years ago my husband was talking about the post I wrote titled 'Spiritual Prisoners' (which, by the way, I think might just be his favorite of anything I've written) and I asked him if I was still a nominal Christian. He was shocked, asked me why I asked him that, and seemed to not recall having ever called me one. He did however say I was no longer a nominal Christian. Whether or not I am one now, there was a time when I had no idea what certain terms meant. I am certain there are many things I still do not know.
Sanctification, I understand, but for some reason the Lord seems to be leading me into a deeper understanding. Why? I do not know.
And so, as a baby learns to understand that 'no' means so many different things, not just 'don't touch', I will learn a deeper understanding of sanctification. Or so it appears.
I will use the lens through which I understand Scripture to go deeper into a subject I've never felt the need to dig deep into before. I may only scratch the surface, I may wind up in dark waters. We shall see. Time will tell. My interest in this subject has come at the Lord's hand and I will see it through to whatever point He wants me to.
As a baby must first learn that 'Daddy' means their daddy before they can comprehend 'where's daddy' or know to wonder 'where daddy at', I will take my less than deep understanding of Sanctification and widen and deepen it until my lens has expanded a bit.
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