Discipline of Grace - wow! what a book...
But as we repick up this blog as a way to share our thoughts on our readings we are on a new book.
~Crazy Love~ Francis Chan.
This book is a bit different as it has a video component to it (online). It is interesting. I have read the intro and part of Chp 1.
Figured I would stop and discuss a portion that has struck me.
As a life-long Christian, I struggle with the "stagnant" walk. In the past few years I definitely received a bit of a wake up call and for the first years of B's life was MUCH closer. Now that life has returned closer to normal (as it ever will be) I feel that "drowsy" Christian sleep walk returning. It is definitely a battle to continue the closer more purposeful journey.
The portion that struck me was where Chan is discussing the characteristics of GOD.
The first two:
1. God is HOLY.
2. God is ETERNAL.
We cannot exaggerate how great he is, now matter how hard we try. To me this is comforting... I tend to exaggerate - and have to be conscious when I start to do this in my own conversations. What an amazing thing it is to know that we cannot exaggerate how wonderful he is... we can't overstate, we can't "give Him too much credit". We can't expect too much from Him. He is set apart from us and we cannot begin to fathom how wonderful he truly is.
Into that flows his second point that we can NOT understand God. He is too big. He has existed forever, he is beyond constraints of time and space that bind us. To try to understand God is like trying to fit all the seas of the earth in a soda can. (Chan's illustration)
To me this is a reminder of how BIG He is.
Why do we forget this? How does the minutia of my life take away from His grandness? It is an oxymoron of sorts. The minutia should remind me of how big HE is... HE is above it all...
Quote from CHAN
"... it is ridiculous to think we have the right to limit God to something we are capable of comprehending. What a stunted and insignificant God that would be!"
