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“The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5 NASB)
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Clogged intake God’s instruction is intended to move us in love – love that comes from a conscience fixed on God’s absolute truth. Thus, it stands to reason that diminishing intake of scripture is directly correlated with a malfunctioning conscience. And a bad conscience will halt one’s capacity to love. If you’ve ever ridden a Jet Ski or Sea-doo or such device, you know that they are propelled by an ingenious mechanism that allows them to briskly skim through the water. A simple propulsion system pulls in lake water and jets it out the back of the craft. Thus, these fun vessels can fly all over the lake and even zip over shallow places where conventional ski boats dare not go. However, there is one problem to which every Sea-doo is subject: the dreaded clog in the intake valve. You see, shallow water is much more likely to host aquatic vegetation. When the craft spends time in the shallows, these plants get pulled into the jet system…where they lodge. There’s no feeling quite like it. One second you are flying along at 40 mph over the shallow water; next second the Jet Ski won’t budge. The gunk has to be cleared out of the intake valve before you can move. Dried up Many of us have experienced the same sensation in life. One minute we’re zipping along, feeling holy and healthy and loving. The next we are at a spiritual standstill. The love has dried up, unable to get through the clog of our bad conscience. I have found that such abrupt surprises are always related to a life of shallowness. Recovering from the shock of a life no longer moving towards God’s love, we realize that we’ve spent very little time in the deep water of God’s Word. Trivial Christianity and worldliness have clogged us up, killing our good conscience and thus halting the power of love. Ah, but one may ask if reason isn’t itself enough to keep our hearts clean and love flowing. Surely we can spend very little time with the Bible and still zip happily along – as long as we remain reasonable. Right? Wrong. Nothing can replace the singularly effective work of Bible intake in our lives. John Milton wrestled with this idea in Paradise Lost. His conclusion was that human reason is too subject to the human flesh, the warped and ever-changing perspectives of the world, and our great spiritual enemy. Therefore, “Reason…[may] fall into deception unaware, Scripture intake is reasonable, but reason is not scripture. Spend time this week in the deep waters of God’s Word so that your conscience stays clear, propelling you along in love.
Preparation I know that some of you who study along with me like to work through the background notes I craft for each series. You can download (Word.docx) the preparation materials for the series In The Name of Love HERE. |