Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.” ~Matthew 13:17 (NRSV).
We live in such privileged times.
Of course, we’re destined to take such as the above truth for granted. How are we to know any different? We’ve been born with a silver spiritual spoon in our mouths—not that we are any more spiritual than the ancient mystic.
No, we’ve been blessed two millennia on. Yet, we have no idea—despite levels of persecution, suffering, or relative luxury and convenience, for that matter—what blessing we’ve been born into; unless we read Jesus’ words and reread them and take good stock of them.
Living in a Day of Privilege
We may know abundantly: this world, our earthly lives, is not all there is.
Perhaps we’ll understand it on one level—that all must die to appease the law of physical death; the decaying of our bodies to dust—but we cannot really know the depths of wisdom resplendent in the realm of eternity. This has to be far beyond us.
That the Saviour has long since arrived, two thousand years hence, and revealed the truth, even in hidden form—opened to open minds, closed to closed hearts—is the greatest highlight of human history. For, God created the world and could have destroyed it because of sin; yet, the Father has made redemption achievable through such simple things: acceptance, surrender to love, openness to the gospel, and the ability to discern spiritual truth.
Such simplicity of privilege reveals no barrier other than a stiff neck; a hardened heart; a closed mind.
Those Who Hear And See Are Called Wise
Strange and ironical, as it seems, those who most give themselves up for weakness are apportioned strength.
Those who choose to give up their right to their own lives find their lives, paradoxically, suddenly enriched and overflowing in the goodness of blessing—well beyond before.
Those who take no comfort from being in a place where little comfort could be had can now take their place in their real home—the spacious eternal residence of the Lord God Almighty.
Those who see in darkness, holding out for the Light, not going the way of darkness, belong to the Light. And to the Light they shall return, very soon.
Those who take no pleasure in the pride of their human heart will know God’s heart on matters; they will be blessed with wisdom—an inconvenient truth for the worldly and an unconventional set of circumstances, always. They will be happy.
Those who resent their wicked hearts will form into purity and they shall surpass even the one they may sit near to in church; God divides us by our hearts not by where we sit.
Those rallying for peace, despite the cost, will know a sense of harmony irreconcilable to the many.
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Privilege beyond privilege into realms beyond understanding: to see and hear Jesus; to observe his Spirit at work; to hear his words and act on them. These are the blessed; more than we can conjure in a lifetime of reflection. Praise the Lord O my soul.
© 2011 S. J. Wickham.
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