The Full Revelation
Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 9:45PM Before you get all excited, thinking that I have had a vision for the ages, simmer down.
I've just been reading Calvin. Normally you might expect "and Hobbes" to follow, but this time it's not so. I am speaking of John Calvin, the Reformer.
It's hard. I really have to concentrate on it, and I often read and reread and rereread sentences or paragraphs. But I'm going to finish what I started. It's kind of crazy that Mike has read so much Calvin, and wrote a huge dissertation on one of his treatises, and I've never really read anything by him. I am aiming to glean some insights from this historically great thinker, pastor, and theologian, who has so influenced my hubs.
So far, in what I have read, the thing that resonates with me the most is Calvin's belief that while we are to be grateful for the gift of life which we have received from God, the trials in this life ought always to heighten our desire for...wait. Let me just quote him.
"[W]e begin in the present life, through various benefits, to taste the sweetness of the divine generosity in order to whet our hope and desire to seek after the full revelation of this."
Basically, we know that God's goodness here is like an appetizer compared to the feast we will one day enjoy. Can you even imagine the "full revelation" of what God has in store for us? I can't. But it makes my heart pound just thinking about it.
There are two things that I know I need to be better about: relating these things to my kids so that they will know God, want to know him more, and trust him now and forever, as well as showing people in the world what an awesome God reigns over and loves us.
That is what is on my mind right now.
(That and the quickly approaching baseball postseason. But I'm guessing the other stuff is more eternally significant.)
Reader Comments (2)
Good for you. That is some deep reading. I would struggle. I apparently need a children's devotional for it to make sense;)
This immeadiately made me think of the verse in (Psalms?) that says "As the deer panteth for water, so my soul panteth for thee." Calvin had some great ideas about keeping the first for our Father God alive and well.