Saturday, September 10, 2011

Diamond Column #1


I was asked to be a columnist for the Dordt Diamond newspaper this year, and since I'm not exactly doing the best job at writing for this blog, I figured I could at least post my columns on here. :)
Here goes nothin' ...
So there’s this guy… who really, really loves this girl. But she abandoned him. So he writes her letters—one letter every day for a year. He never gets  a reply, so he finally gives up and tries to move on with his life. A few years later he sees the girl again and finds out she never read any of the letters and has moved on with her life as well.
Okay, so I obviously didn’t make this story up. All you chick-flick lovers probably know that I got this plot from The Notebook. No worries, though. This column is definitely not going to be my movie critiques. But a conversation I had a few days ago made me think of the connection between this and our relationship with God that I wanted to share with you.
He loves us so much. Not only has He shown us His great love by sending His own Son to redeem us from our sins and given us an abundance of blessings, but He’s written us love letters, too. How many of you girls and guys wouldn’t rip open a letter from your “significant other” the moment you found it in the mailbox? Why don’t we set it aside for a quick ten-minute read right before bed or after dinner? I know why—because we’re dying to read what’s inside! So why don’t we treat the Bible the same way? There’s letters that would benefit every part of our lives in there. Letters of how mighty God is, of how much we need Him, of how faithful and in control He is, of how much He loves us, of how we can love Him in return…
It’s all in there and yet so often we hand the packet of 365 letters back to God—unopened! Those of you who’ve seen The Notebook know that Ali’s mom was who kept her from reading the letters, and I don’t think it’s too far of a stretch to compare her to the devil. How is the devil keeping you from reading God’s letters for you? Too busy? Too lazy? Scared of what you might find or be told to do? Don’t know where to start? Think you’ve heard it all too many times already? Too hard to understand?
Well, my challenge for you is to ask the Spirit to reveal why you don’t read more of God’s letters. He will show you because I have no doubt that there’s nothing God wants more than for His Bride to come to a true understanding of how much He loves you. Furthermore, ask God to give you a desire to read His letters and to have the strength to stand up against the devil’s schemes.
The amazing thing is that God is not like Noah in The Notebook. He’s not going to give up after a year—He won’t give up ever. Our God is so faithful, and He will answer our sincere prayers. Ask Him now, and then go tear open one of His letters!