Where no oxen are, the crib is clean:
But much increase is by the strength of the ox.
-Proverbs 14:4
The proverb listed above is my dear friend's favorite proverb (or at least it was, two years ago!), and it is the first of two verses that comprise today's speed study.... or at least it would've been a speed study if I had a keyboard for my iPad so that I'd have arrow keys that would prevent it from glitching out at the bottom of posts. Oh well.
05/08/13 4:50:57 pm
What is the chief end of man? Beyond the catechism answers, which are good, the practical answers are repeated time after time in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes in the same manner that the prophets declared the Word of The Lord: unquestioned. People didn't question their indicative statements of authority; people merely recognized truth. (I'm not sure why my iPad capitalizes the "The" in "The Lord")
Talking with a guy I met in the park (I'll call him "Stu" henceforth), I realized that I, like his agnostic mind, have a tendency to formulate generalized statements about religion and philosophy and stuff, yielding statements like "all people believe..." Or "this is true in all worldviews."
The chief end, or purpose, for man and his life is really asking the question: "For what purpose do you live?"
05/08/13 4:58:48 pm
Why not commit suicide? I'm not suicidal, but this is the same question as the ones posed before, only more poignant and demanding of an answer: "What business do you have with life?"
There are a plethora of inadequate hedonistic desires that will fail you if you make them your goal.
And if you, viewing your religion, see that you have met the criteria for heaven, paradise, a pleasant reincarnation, nirvana, or even the Pax Romana of annihilation, why continue aging and sweating and wasting away?
Work, from the true and biblical view, is a blessing given to us by God, only cursed to be laborious after the fall of mankind into the estate of sin and misery. But this is not the case for many of my non-Christian friends. In the course of my class on Gerontology, the study of aging (becoming a γέροντας), a peer of mine complained furiously about the prospect of a mandated postponed retirement due to the inevitable drying up of social security within my generation's lifetime.
This leads me to this first verse, the Proverb. Why not be idle, sleeping as Hamlet would have it spoken, and thus have "lived" a life without a shitty stall, never having hungered or thirsted in want, never having walked through dark valleys and dark alleys, never failing, never trying? Why not forgo the fruit of the harvest of many summers if you can also forgo the cost of many days and many nights of sweaty toil in the fields, the back-breaking and thankless labor of a farm hand or a farm animal? Who benefits from the "increase by the strength of the ox?" According to Solomon, the Preacher of the city of David, it is vanity; your children, the "man that shall be after me," both foolish and wise, will inherit all the labors of your hands (Ecclesiastes 2:18-26). The Preacher's conclusion merely advises hard labor for the joy inherent in "Work," the creation ordinance of God, because that's YOUR JOB. You won't have a chance to do that "in the grave, whither thou goest [when you die]" (Ecc. 9:10), though you will never be satisfied serving service, for "all the labour of man [is] for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled" (Ecc. 6:7). Solomon recognizes that it is from the hand of God that a man ought to eat, drink, and be merry in his labor (Ecc. 2:24), but what happens when you lose sight of that joy and life seems boring and lame and vain and such a drag? What of the time when you, like Solomon, despair and cry out "Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit" (Ecc. 2:17)?
05/08/13 5:20:47 pm
But fear not, little sheep, for there is hope. God makes you glad, even though your eyes are clouded over with dripping tears and beads of sweat, for you do not labor alone. He has sent His Son to rescue you like an older brother, and He now shows you the ropes. He hoists the heavy wooden yoke up on His shoulders and He calls you to rest in the shadow of His wing. He tells you that His "yoke is easy," and you can lean on Him and learn from Him, for He is meek and lowly in heart: He doesn't mind-- no, He stoops down, He humiliates himself in obedience, He sets His arms to this beautiful work with a smile on His face as blood drips off His face like sweat.
"At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and [he] to whomsoever the Son will reveal [Him]. Come unto Me, all [ye] that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn [from] Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' "
-Matthew 11:25-30
Jesus's yoke is His teaching. This isn't stretching the text; a rabbi's doctrine and interpretation of Scripture is commonly called his "yoke." (If you don't believe me or Bex of Valley Christian's LCB class, I borrowed from this website.) This yoke is a training yoke (ζυγὸς)-- the kind used to bind two oxen together: one ox who is learned and aged and mature in His duty & a fledgling calf who walks side-by-side with the strong ox. Hence the significance of Jesus's words! He promises to bear the weight of the load as we learn from Him.
This stands in stark contrast later to Jesus's damning list of the characteristics of "the scribes and the Pharisees [who] sit in Moses' seat... bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay [them] on men's shoulders; but they [themselves] will not move them with one of their fingers" (Matthew 23:2,4).
What is the yoke of Jesus? What does He teach? What must you submit to, and work at under the care and training of the Almighty God who stoops down to your level?
Jesus says that the greatest commandments of the Law are to firstly love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might, & then to love your neighbor (furthermore, your enemies also) as yourself.
05/09/13 12:01:12 am
But this commandment crushes the spirit of man and makes the weak knees of yearling calves to quiver at the thought of this hard task. Jesus calls THIS yoke EASY? This burden is anything but light!
Remember, O reader, that Jesus, the King of the universe who sung, sings, and will sing all things into beautiful existence to His glory and the good of His Church, this same Jesus does not hesitate to sit in the dust and write names in the sand. He doesn't mind resisting the devil's temptations. He doesn't mind talking with those people like the Syrophenician woman or the Samaritan woman. For joy He clung to the cross that we might learn to mirror His footsteps, though they be at the cost of blood, striving against sin-- sin in your flesh, sin in the world, and the devil. He doesn't mind doing the work of salvation as we walk beside Him and learn from Him (Furthermore, He sends His Holy Spirit to "come alongside" us, our Paraclete in His stead).
Though your work cause you to plow through thorns or sweaty brows or stressful headaches, know that Jesus takes you by the hand like a gentle father who knows the way. He has accomplished this grand and impossible task of a thorough, unadulterated, and vehement love to God & a relentless, benevolent, and whole-hearted love for your neighbors (no, your enemies too!). All you must do is cease trying to plow the field by yourself (you're stumbling and killing the plants below your feet while you're being stiff-necked anyways) and come to Jesus, the humble King, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
... and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
But much increase is by the strength of the ox.
-Proverbs 14:4
The proverb listed above is my dear friend's favorite proverb (or at least it was, two years ago!), and it is the first of two verses that comprise today's speed study.... or at least it would've been a speed study if I had a keyboard for my iPad so that I'd have arrow keys that would prevent it from glitching out at the bottom of posts. Oh well.
05/08/13 4:50:57 pm
What is the chief end of man? Beyond the catechism answers, which are good, the practical answers are repeated time after time in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes in the same manner that the prophets declared the Word of The Lord: unquestioned. People didn't question their indicative statements of authority; people merely recognized truth. (I'm not sure why my iPad capitalizes the "The" in "The Lord")
Talking with a guy I met in the park (I'll call him "Stu" henceforth), I realized that I, like his agnostic mind, have a tendency to formulate generalized statements about religion and philosophy and stuff, yielding statements like "all people believe..." Or "this is true in all worldviews."
The chief end, or purpose, for man and his life is really asking the question: "For what purpose do you live?"
05/08/13 4:58:48 pm
Why not commit suicide? I'm not suicidal, but this is the same question as the ones posed before, only more poignant and demanding of an answer: "What business do you have with life?"
There are a plethora of inadequate hedonistic desires that will fail you if you make them your goal.
And if you, viewing your religion, see that you have met the criteria for heaven, paradise, a pleasant reincarnation, nirvana, or even the Pax Romana of annihilation, why continue aging and sweating and wasting away?
Work, from the true and biblical view, is a blessing given to us by God, only cursed to be laborious after the fall of mankind into the estate of sin and misery. But this is not the case for many of my non-Christian friends. In the course of my class on Gerontology, the study of aging (becoming a γέροντας), a peer of mine complained furiously about the prospect of a mandated postponed retirement due to the inevitable drying up of social security within my generation's lifetime.
This leads me to this first verse, the Proverb. Why not be idle, sleeping as Hamlet would have it spoken, and thus have "lived" a life without a shitty stall, never having hungered or thirsted in want, never having walked through dark valleys and dark alleys, never failing, never trying? Why not forgo the fruit of the harvest of many summers if you can also forgo the cost of many days and many nights of sweaty toil in the fields, the back-breaking and thankless labor of a farm hand or a farm animal? Who benefits from the "increase by the strength of the ox?" According to Solomon, the Preacher of the city of David, it is vanity; your children, the "man that shall be after me," both foolish and wise, will inherit all the labors of your hands (Ecclesiastes 2:18-26). The Preacher's conclusion merely advises hard labor for the joy inherent in "Work," the creation ordinance of God, because that's YOUR JOB. You won't have a chance to do that "in the grave, whither thou goest [when you die]" (Ecc. 9:10), though you will never be satisfied serving service, for "all the labour of man [is] for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled" (Ecc. 6:7). Solomon recognizes that it is from the hand of God that a man ought to eat, drink, and be merry in his labor (Ecc. 2:24), but what happens when you lose sight of that joy and life seems boring and lame and vain and such a drag? What of the time when you, like Solomon, despair and cry out "Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit" (Ecc. 2:17)?
05/08/13 5:20:47 pm
But fear not, little sheep, for there is hope. God makes you glad, even though your eyes are clouded over with dripping tears and beads of sweat, for you do not labor alone. He has sent His Son to rescue you like an older brother, and He now shows you the ropes. He hoists the heavy wooden yoke up on His shoulders and He calls you to rest in the shadow of His wing. He tells you that His "yoke is easy," and you can lean on Him and learn from Him, for He is meek and lowly in heart: He doesn't mind-- no, He stoops down, He humiliates himself in obedience, He sets His arms to this beautiful work with a smile on His face as blood drips off His face like sweat.
"At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and [he] to whomsoever the Son will reveal [Him]. Come unto Me, all [ye] that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn [from] Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' "
-Matthew 11:25-30
Jesus's yoke is His teaching. This isn't stretching the text; a rabbi's doctrine and interpretation of Scripture is commonly called his "yoke." (If you don't believe me or Bex of Valley Christian's LCB class, I borrowed from this website.) This yoke is a training yoke (ζυγὸς)-- the kind used to bind two oxen together: one ox who is learned and aged and mature in His duty & a fledgling calf who walks side-by-side with the strong ox. Hence the significance of Jesus's words! He promises to bear the weight of the load as we learn from Him.
This stands in stark contrast later to Jesus's damning list of the characteristics of "the scribes and the Pharisees [who] sit in Moses' seat... bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay [them] on men's shoulders; but they [themselves] will not move them with one of their fingers" (Matthew 23:2,4).
What is the yoke of Jesus? What does He teach? What must you submit to, and work at under the care and training of the Almighty God who stoops down to your level?
Jesus says that the greatest commandments of the Law are to firstly love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might, & then to love your neighbor (furthermore, your enemies also) as yourself.
05/09/13 12:01:12 am
But this commandment crushes the spirit of man and makes the weak knees of yearling calves to quiver at the thought of this hard task. Jesus calls THIS yoke EASY? This burden is anything but light!
Remember, O reader, that Jesus, the King of the universe who sung, sings, and will sing all things into beautiful existence to His glory and the good of His Church, this same Jesus does not hesitate to sit in the dust and write names in the sand. He doesn't mind resisting the devil's temptations. He doesn't mind talking with those people like the Syrophenician woman or the Samaritan woman. For joy He clung to the cross that we might learn to mirror His footsteps, though they be at the cost of blood, striving against sin-- sin in your flesh, sin in the world, and the devil. He doesn't mind doing the work of salvation as we walk beside Him and learn from Him (Furthermore, He sends His Holy Spirit to "come alongside" us, our Paraclete in His stead).
Though your work cause you to plow through thorns or sweaty brows or stressful headaches, know that Jesus takes you by the hand like a gentle father who knows the way. He has accomplished this grand and impossible task of a thorough, unadulterated, and vehement love to God & a relentless, benevolent, and whole-hearted love for your neighbors (no, your enemies too!). All you must do is cease trying to plow the field by yourself (you're stumbling and killing the plants below your feet while you're being stiff-necked anyways) and come to Jesus, the humble King, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
... and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
