I had my first “adult education” bible study class tonight. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, so I put a few ideas together. as usual, God shows that his plans are beyond our understanding, so it’ll be a good adventure over the next few weeks. the Bible is always a good adventure. but this is not the point of the blog… the point came when one woman (the coordinator of it all) said she had read up on my blog and enjoyed a post. i thought, “what blog… oh, yeah…. I haven’t touched that for a while!” so, now that people are checking, i have to come up with something brilliant. ah, pressure.
but no, actually this has been burning lately and i haven’t felt propelled to post because i thought it would just ring empty into cyber space. now i shall give it some air time.
We were at bible study last week (my usual ladies, not the special class) and Wendy brought up Jesus’ difficult teaching on the rich and heaven. She said, “how do we teach that rich people, straight up, won’t get into heaven?”
it is then, by the grace of God, that a realization came (and i know it was from God because I had never thought it before, nor understood it until it came out)… it’s not about who does or does not get into heaven. it’s about who will let the Kingdom of Heaven rule in their hearts. the rich are so filled up on their concerns about the riches of the world and whatnot that there’s no room for God to do their thing.
think about it… the beatitudes are all about the lacking- being poor, grief, giving up control and power. it’s when you have to let go of things or people that you can finally open your arms to what God has for you.
it made me really reflect- what fills my heart? what’s taking up space that God can’t get in? Oswald said this morning (can you tell what i’m reading again?) that it’s easy to find God in the hard times- it’s when things are easy that it’s tough. when life is good you have something to cling to. when life is hard you learn the difference between a rock and a sandy beach- some things are sturdy and some drift with a whim.
this thought is not as nearly put-together as i’d like it to be. but maybe it’ll come together after some further ponderings. until then, i’m going to go to sleep 🙂