Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kindgom of heaven. - Matt. 5:3
Before the Lord God made man upon the earth He first prepared for him by creating a world of useful and pleasant things for his sustenance and delight. In the Genesis account of the creation these are called simply "things." They were made for man's uses, but they were meant always to be external to the man and subservient to him. In the deep heart of the man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come. Within him was God; without, a thousand gifts which God had showered upon him.
But sin has introduced complications and has made those very gifts of God a potential source of ruin to the soul.
Our woes began when God was forced out of His central shrine and "things" were allowed to enter. Within the human heart "things" have taken over. Men have now by nature no peace within their hearts, for God is crowned there no longer, but there in the moral dusk stubborn and aggressive usurpers fight among themselves for first place on the throne.
This is not a mere metaphor, but an accurate analysis of our real spiritual trouble. There is within the human heart a tough fibrous root of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess. It covets "things" with a deep and fierce passion. The pronouns "my" and "mine" look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do. They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God's gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.
Our Lord referred to this tyranny of things when He said to His disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it."
Saturday, July 30, 2011
The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing
The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing is chapter 2 of A. W. Tozer's Pursuit of God, which I have just begun to read. It is powerful and simple. I thought I would post an excerpt:
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Hi David! Great blog post. :)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this message is easier for us to understand and accept being poor college students, without having to make any major purchases like houses or guard the expensive possessions of others, and being able to leave our rooms completely unlocked without any fear for security. More poignantly, I wonder if we will be able to think so idealistically when our kids' stuff is at stake.
That said, I heartily agree with this message. Mark Driscoll likes to put it like this: "We shouldn't love things and use people; we use things to love people." We remember that our possessions are good gifts from God, but when good things become God things, that's bad.
There are some whom Jesus called to voluntary poverty. When he sent out the 72 in Matthew 10, he tells them not to have possessions. His calling to the rich young ruler was in a similar vein, but was refused. But he also calls some to be rich, as evidence of his bounty. Abraham and Solomon come to mind. In the New Testament, Joseph of Arimathea's wealth allowed Jesus to be buried properly, and in a location that would allow him to be resurrected.
Just some of my thoughts. :)
Sam
...to crown God again in our hearts~ i pray that it may be so. thanks for sharing this with us, David.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of the verse - it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Perhaps the blessing of material prosperity is a harder test than that of poverty... how blessed is a man who can see through the illusions of the world and stand the test of riches.
ReplyDeleteI think the content is good but the title is misleading.
ReplyDeleteThe content is about spirit but the title misleads to external possession, which is not what Bible is focusing on.
Buddhism has the same philosophy, since man can observe the root of sin is the greed for things, fame and position. But, parents, wives and children of such philosophers will suffer and a wife of a famous Buddhism philosopher in Taiwan suicide.
I would say God's love revealed by Jesus' salvation earns our love to God. The victory of greed which leads to sin is through the love of Christ. How much we need to pray for the understanding and experience of God's love!
To sum it up, love of Christ is the victory to greed and any other temptation. Possessing or not is not the central issue. Do you agree it?
It's true, it's all about knowing God's love for us and crowning Him in our heart! I guess the title could be expanded to mean "the blessedness of holding nothing as our possession in our hearts" because God's love is enough for us (and it's the best treasure!)
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