day no. 17,330: the correct view of life and death

“Get correct views of life, and learn to see the world in its true light. It will enable you to live pleasantly, to do good, and, when summoned away, to leave without regret.” ― Robert E. Lee

Correct views come from somewhere. They are not built in, they are brought in. God is our Creator and Sustainer. He is perfect. His Law is holy, perfect, and good. It teaches us what life should be like and how to navigate things as they are.

John 1:9-10

The true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

We do not know the correct views of life by nature. We cannot conceive them by speculation. They can only be received by revelation. God has revealed Himself to us and so we must walk in His light. If we do, we will live and die well. We won't die wishing we had done differently. 

Psalm 119:105

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Those who walk in the light in this life will never walk in darkness. They will not lay down in the dark. They will walk from this life into eternity with the lamp of Christ to guide them.

Revelation 22:5

And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Hear the Word, Believe the Word, Do the Word. The man who does this will hear, "Well done!"

day no. 17,329: sword play when things are serious

"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come, and that soon; and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." ― Stonewall Jackson

Enmity is inescapable. Conflict is in the cards. Good and evil cannot coexist, regardless of what the bumper stickers tell us. God has infused enmity into the order of the world, or rather, it should be said into the disorder of the world. God is not a God of disorder, but of order. It is Christ or chaos. The two are mutually exclusive. They cannot kumbaya. There will be warfare. There armies may not always be actively firing at each other, but they are always maneuvering, planning, and positioning themselves for their next assaults.

So, they may not always be exchanging blows, but they are always preparing for the next strike. And if something is worth hitting over, it is worth hitting hard over. There is no sense is soft hitting. There is no mercy in being milquetoast. Swift and severe often ends in less overall devastation than slow and subtle. If you unsheathe your sword, don't put it away until there is nothing left to swing at. Cut and hack most resolutely, and then remember to clean your sword. (Pilgrim's Progress, The Chronicles of Narnia)

"The unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly." — Theodore Roosevelt

Casualties are reduced when contacts are made to count. An efficient first strike can sometimes be sufficient enough to eliminate the need for future engagement. If you can convince the enemy to stand down, you can save more of your enemies lives than you could have by convincing them that they had a chance.

"If you decide to fight, you also have to decide to win." — Luther (movie: 2003)

You cannot fight half-heartedly. If something is worth fighting about, it is worth fighting as hard as you can about.

"Believe that you can whip the enemy, and you have won half the battle." — J. E. B. Stuart

You should not swing unless you think you can take him and then, swing away. But don't timidly tap your opponent. Either give them the dignity of loving them well as an enemy by opposing them ferociously or give them an apology for having previously opposed them and love them by becoming their friend. If they should be opposed, then oppose them well. That is loving your enemy. If they should not be opposed, stop opposing them and ask them for their forgiveness for having done so before. That is also loving your enemy.

day no. 17,328: education and the end of everything as we know it

“The education of a man is never completed until he dies.” ― Robert E. Lee

Education is the nourishment and instruction of the Lord and its aim is to conform us to the image of Christ. As such, it is completed only when we become like Him in death. As long as we are alive, it continues. We are never done learning. We are always being conformed to the image of Christ. That is the end for which we were made and saved.

Romans 8:29-32

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

We get the English word “education” from the Latin “educere.” (eh-DOO-kay-ray) The etymology of this word is the Latin prefix “e” meaning “of” or “from,” and the word “ducere” meaning “to lead” or “to draw out.” So putting it all together, education is leading or drawing someone out of something. An education, therefore, always presupposes a start and a finish or to frame it in more theological terms, an origin and an eschatology. An education assumes certain things about where we came from as well as about where we should be going. So, where does a Christian education begin? With the end in mind.

Which is to say that education begins and ends with Christ. Anything less is not Christian. It is antichrist. We are being led somewhere by someone and the where and one are the same: Christ.

Q: What is the chief end of man?

A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.

― Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 1

We are being led to the right hand of the Father. That is where Christ is and that is where endless joy abounds.

Psalm 16:11

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: 

in Thy presence is fulness of joy; 

at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

This is the end. In Christ, our education is completed. We do not graduate beyond grace. We continue on to greater degrees as we become more like.

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit.

Onward and upward, to Narnia and the North. Further up and further in forever and ever, world without end, and amen.

day no. 17,327: that blessed arrangement

“Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly… both partners might have found more suitable mates. But the real soul-mate is the one you are actually married to.” — J.R.R. Tolkien, in a letter to his son

There is no such thing as the one. There are better matches than others, but at the end of the day, there is the one you chose and your commitment to your choice.

"First a man must choose his love, and then he must love his choice" — Henry Smith

If you choose a spouse, you also choose to stop looking for another. Once you have said, "I do," and she has said, "I do too," you have promised to stop considering other options. With respect to all other eligible prospects, you are saying, "I don't." Every "yes" is a "no." To say, "Yes," to this way is to say, "No," to that way. To say, "Yes," to this person is to say, "No," to that person.

"Many a man has been lucky in marrying the woman he loves. But he is luckiest in loving the woman he marries." — G.K. Chesterton

Your soul-mate is the one you are married to. No better match can come along after the fact. Once the fact of the marriage exists, there is no better option than the one you call your spouse.