Sunday, August 21, 2011

Flee the hidden God and run to Christ (Martin Luther)

Philip Yancey:
Martin Luther encouraged his students to flee the hidden God and run to Christ, and I now know why. If I use a magnifying glass to examine a fine painting, the object in the center of the glass stays crisp and clear, while around the eges the view grows increasingly distorted. For me, Jesus has become the focal point. When I speculate about such imponderables as the problem of pain or providence versus free will, everything becomes fuzzy. But if I look at Jesus himself, at how he treated actual people in pain, at his calls to free and diligent action, clarity is restored. I can worry myself into a spiritual ennui  [i.e., weary dissastisfaction]  over questions like ‘What good does it do to pray if God already knows everything?’ Jesus silences such questions: he prayed, so should we (Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 265).’
HT: Chris Brauns

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