Musings #1

Musings:
Particular convicting thoughts that spontaneously arise from my Scriptural study which may or may not be true and accurate interpretations of the Scripture. Should I wish to present something more defensible you will find some other title such as "Dogmatics" or "Theological Treatises." That being said, please feel free to chime in with any objections or observations as you feel so inclined, but please to not expect this set of thoughts to hold a hard line on any point.

Do you groan?:

Do you groan? I know I do not. Or are you not afflicted by the Christ likeness that you have been called to? I know I am not. Why not? I am not sure, except that I am out of touch with the effects of the curse. In our mechanized western world we have distanced ourselves from the effects of the fall, or at least we act like we have.
You see when Adam sinned God did not only curse the Serpent, Eve, and of course Adam, he cursed the earth as well. "Cursed is the ground for your sake..." Gen. 3:17. Reading that passage before I always thought of the affect this had on Adam (and consequently us). Now, because Adam sinned, I have a car that breaks down, a flower bed to weed, a roof to patch, and any number of other problematic areas of life that evidence the earths rebellion against the dominion of man. But now will always read that passage with Romans 8:18ff in my mind. The earth did not ask for Adam's rebellion, it did not ask to be cursed and yet it has been, and now is suffering from the affects of the fall as well. And so the earth groans, in fact, all creation groans under the strain of sin's poisonous influence.
Do you groan? Inanimate objects, senseless animals, geological forces, planetary systems all groan, do you? They know the troubled age that we live in...that age between sin and redemption. They long for the final revelation of the Sons of God so that all may be put to right and they may return to their deathless, submissive state of perfect harmony. No more pain, no more destruction, no more suffering. Do you long to see God's perfect work of glorification in your life? In Creation? Or do you not even feel the effects of sin? Has this life's cares and temptations numbed you to the pain and so removed your sense of urgency. Like the mortally wounded soldier filled with morphine we lie on the battlefield unaware of our danger and the pain that should warn us.
Wake up and look around you! Chaos, pain, wickedness--these are all around and inside of you. Do not dull your senses to them, but turn them over to great physician who has sent His Spirit to translate your delirious mumblings into just the words He needs to hear. Do not worry for this battle will only make you stronger and prepare you for the victory that is coming. Do not seek after the quick, cheap morphine of this life to dull your pain, rather groan. Groan to the God who has made you and is working in you even through the challenge and heartache of this life. Only He can enable you to see the hope that is before you, and by His purpose call you to be one of many of His Children.
Are we not more sensible than the earth? Are we less intelligent than the wild beasts of the field? Are we more dull than the mountains round about us? Even they know the pain of the fall. Even they long for the end of this futility. Even they groan. Do you groan? I know I do not, and so I am numb to that which should drive me to Christ and make me to long for His return.