{burning ones}

Psalm 8:4//
What is man that Thou are mindful of him?


If you have never been blasted by anything you've read in the Bible, this verse is a great place to start. Why would a God who created the entire universe for His glory choose not to destroy completely that work when it decided not to give Him glory? As Andy Byrd told us, the greatest injustice in history is not genocide, is not sex trafficking or slavery, is not abortion. It is the fact that God has been robbed of the glory that is owed Him by His creation. If we were completely sold out to glorifying Him, all other injustices would cease to exist. We cannot glorify God and then proceed to debase the image of God in another human being.

Today in class, LCMI pastor Eric Smith said that foundational truths are of utmost importance because the enemy targets foundations. He will even allow a beautiful, perfect house to be built atop that crumbling foundation so long as he can distract us from its decayed state, and in allowing that, he receives greater glory as the beautiful house inevitably falls. But he cannot be forever successful. Many times, yes, he is, but his victory is fleeting.

"Why such hope?" you may be asking. As Chesterton notes in The Everlasting Man, our God isn't the kind of deity who gets overly bothered by death. He has, after all, overcome it and continues to overcome it. When the externally beautiful house of our works crumbles to the ground, as we lie among the ruins of what was fundamentally flawed, there is a breath of cool air that blows away the dust. The glory and power of that Psalm 8 verse is that though Man is nothing that God should be mindful of, yet He IS mindful. It is when we are humbled and brought low that we can hear what He has been saying all along but pridefully chose not to hear: "I loved you first. My thoughts are for you. I have given everything for you. Come as you are, beloved. Build anew, but this time lay your foundation of My undying, unchanging love for you and erect a home for yourself with My glory in mind."

And if you do have a house of works that hasn't crumbled yet, light it on fire. Take the torch of radical love and hold it to all the empty things you have held dear. As John Wesley said, "Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn."

He is longing for a world of burning ones. Are you ready for the fire?