day no. 15,902: the guardians of heathen genius

Therefore your end is on you,
Is on you and your kings,
Not for a fire in Ely fen,
Not that your gods are nine or ten,
But because it is only Christian men
Guard even heathen things.

For our God hath blessed creation, 
Calling it good. I know
What spirit with whom you blindly band
Hath blessed destruction with his hand;
Yet by God's death the stars shall stand
And the small apples grow.
  -- G.K. Chesterton, The Ballad of the White Horse

Only the meek will inherit the world; what worldliness seeks, it leaves to the meek. Those who worship the world won't get to keep it. All of their efforts are only done for the sake of those they despise. The heathen's best inventions will not be taken with them. Their best efforts will be left to those who gave their allegiance to God. Whatever genius God inspires in the heathen, He leaves to others. All their vanity and achievement are like the houses and vineyards the Israelites inherited when they entered Canaan.

The blood of the Son has purchased the world and He has left it to His faithful servants in His will. He has stored up the world and all its treasures, beauty, and goodness as an inheritance for those who love Him.

day no. 15,901: a quest and a dragon to kill

When God put man in a garden
He girt him with a sword,
And sent him forth a free knight
That might betray his lord;

He brake Him and betrayed Him,
And fast and far he fell,
Till you and I may stretch our necks
And burn our beards in hell.

But though I lie on the floor of the world,
With the seven sins for rods,
I would rather fall with Adam

Than rise with all your gods.
-- G.K. Chesterton, The Ballad of the White Horse

God gave Adam the ability to fall. He made him a knight, gave him a mission, provided a quest, and a dragon to kill. But Adam fell short of the glory of God by reaching up for what was forbidden. Yet God forgave Adam and provided the promise of a Dragon-slayer Son who would reverse the curse and inhabit His people as they warred with the sons of serpents. I would rather fall with Adam than rise on the wings of fallen angels. The second Adam, the Son of Man and Son of God, rose from the dead and ascended to His throne where He rests His feet on the heads of His enemies. It is better to be resurrected from the dust with Adam than to ascend to the penthouse of Babel.

day no. 15,900: your stupid preference

"While the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid." -- G.K. Chesterton

Those who make it their habit to tear down old statues and statutes simply because they are old hand down an inheritance of hating history. But that merely means that any statues and statutes they erect are merely destined to be destroyed by their descendants. You don't fix someone else's stupid by asserting your own. Your issue, in that instance, is not their stupidity, but your preference. When one stupidity simply replaces another it becomes obvious that the issue was never a matter of eliminating stupidity, but of merely elevating your own.

day no. 15,899: what's left ain't right

"The politicians said the working-class was now strong enough to be allowed votes. It would be truer to say it was now weak enough to be allowed votes." -- G.K. Chesterton, A Short History of England

The right to vote is only given to those too weak to secure it for themselves. In this sense, then, the right does not belong to voter, but to the one allowing you to vote. What's left to you ain't right, but relegation.

The strong make their vote count. They aren't given the opportunity by anyone else, they create the opportunity for themselves. To be given a right is to be too weak to secure it; and if f it can be given, it can be taken away. If it isn't yours unless someone decides to give it to you, it won't be yours when they no longer feel like they want you to have it. This is why rights must come from God and not men.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

The world gives in order to get. If someone is giving you the right to vote, you are the product they are purchasing. If they give you rights, you are theirs by right. But God gives differently. He doesn't need anything from you and whatever He demands from you is for your benefit, not His. When the world gives, you should be troubled by wondering what it is they want from you, but when God gives, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32)

day no. 15,898: camel hair and honey

“Nine times out of ten, the coarse word is the word that condemns an evil and the refined word the word that excuses it” -- G.K. Chesterton, The Victorian Age

Some of the words we disapprove of are words that would condemn our behavior because, as it turns out, we don't like be disapproved of. In those instances, the word considered coarse, is the only word that could condemn. Sometimes condemning sin is considered coarse across the board so that the very act of confronting it is itself considered a faux pas. And if it comes to that, the man covered in camel hair and honey may be the most civilized man in society, no matter what they say. Their vitriol may be approved by their dictionary of decorum, but in God's lexicon it's still considered slander and their peacekeeping may be considered proper by their standards, but by God's it's charged as treason.

day no. 15,897: good works... except when it doesn't

"We are not saved by our labors, but it is most certainly the case that our labors, along with us, are also saved (1 Cor. 15:58)." -- Douglas Wilson, Nancy Rust, RIP

Our labors cannot save us. They, like us, are damnable. They are filthy rags and refuse. They are unable to make pure because they are, themselves, defiled. But they, like us, can be redeemed. They can be saved and sanctified by the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ on our behalf. And if we are saved, our works must be as well. God doesn't save us in part. He doesn't leave anything left unsaved of that which is saved. If you are to be saved, all of you is to be saved: mind, body, soul, word, thought, and deed.

"The grace of God which saves Christians and the good works that Christians do are two things that exist in a necessary relationship. But it is crucial that we get that relationship right because it is the relationship of cart and horse. We must know which is the cause and which is the effect." -- Douglas Wilson, Nancy Rust, RIP

Our good works must follow our salvation by necessity and in that order. They must follow. They cannot lead. They must follow. They cannot be absent. They must be there, right behind, exactly where they belong. If there are not good works behind you, it calls into question what's ahead of you.

All that to say, we are saved from good works and saved unto good works. Our belief in our good works is something we need to be saved from. So, we don't need to be saved out of doing good works, but from trusting in them. And once we've been saved from them, we are safe to do as many of them as possible for the glory of our God and the good of our neighbor.

day no. 15,896: to be saved is to be saved out from

This Man receiveth sinners -- Luke 15:2

“‘This Man receiveth sinners;’ not, however, that they may remain sinners, but he receives them that he may pardon their sins, justify their persons, cleanse their hearts by his purifying word, preserve their souls by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and enable them to serve him, to show forth his praise, and to have communion with him. Into his heart's love he receives sinners, takes them from the dunghill, and wears them as jewels in his crown; plucks them as brands from the burning, and preserves them as costly monuments of his mercy.... This fact is still most sure this evening, He is still receiving sinners: would to God sinners would receive Him.“ — C.H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

God does not save people by leaving them where they are. He welcomes all to come as they are, but suffers none to stay as they are. To be saved is to be saved out from. If you do not want to budge from where you feel like you belong, you cannot be surprised that you are not saved out from where you currently are. 

Jude 1:20-23
But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

God does not snatch sinners from the fire by leaving them in the fire. God does not protect branches from burning by letting them burn. You cannot beg God to pull you from the flames and then complain that you can no longer smell the smoke. To be saved from sin is to plucked out from it and separated from it. Sin is separation. It separates people from God, from each other and from themselves. God desires us to be separate, therefore, from sin. There will be separation. It is inescapable. You will be separated from something. Will it be God, your neighbor and your reflection in the mirror or will it be from sin?