day no. 15,895: imagination, machination and exeuction

"The cultural chaos in which we are currently living has caused many to despair, and others to simply shrug and accept the postmodern crazy. But I want to argue that we are in the perfect moment to rethink this whole subject. Because our culture has kicked everything over, since nothing is left but rubble, we actually have the remarkable privilege of being able to think through each line before redrawing it. We can check each boundary against the Scriptures before setting it back in its place. What a blessing! What a huge opportunity! I might not have advocated that our culture burn the house down, but there is no denying that now that the demo has actually happened, it might be nice to start with a blank slate. Rebuilding the house, but this time with better closet space and less ugly linoleum, is actually a great opportunity...We have a fantastic opportunity in front of us, but we also have a hostile audience. We are in the position of Nehemiah—returning from exile and trying to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem while the culture outside jeers. But if I could stand in any moment, this is the one I would pick. We have a huge opportunity in front of us, and I hope we can make the most of it." -- Rebekah Merkle, Eve in Exile

While every child of God earnestly yearns for a better Jerusalem, none of them would have burnt the place down in order to begin again. Their desire would have been for reformation, not deformation. But if Jerusalem goes down in flames, those whose heart was for it will be the ones who rebuild it and when they do, they won't use the old blueprints, they will revisit the ones received by Moses from his vision of the one above in order to rebuild it better than before. If we have to start over anyway, we might as well begin with a better end in mind. Everything is created twice. Once in the imagination and again in reality. May our imaginations be defined by God's designs that our machinations may be manifestly divine in their execution.