{"id":73048,"date":"2019-04-17T22:17:35","date_gmt":"2019-04-18T04:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=73048"},"modified":"2019-04-18T00:15:51","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T06:15:51","slug":"new-testament-notes-223-225","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/04\/new-testament-notes-223-225.html","title":{"rendered":"New Testament Notes 223-225"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Giverny,<\/a>
A view of Monet\u2019s garden at Giverny, by Art Anderson (Wikimedia CC) Since I have no photographs of heaven, this will have to do for now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luke 16:10-12<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some of the Lord\u2019s commandments, critics occasionally point out, seem so . . . well, so small<\/em>. \u00a0And, in a sense, they are<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I remember once being asked whether I thought that a single cup of coffee would keep me out of the celestial kingdom. \u00a0And, in a sense, I don\u2019t<\/em>. \u00a0But if I were to adopt the attitude that the Lord\u2019s will is unimportant to me, a matter of no consequence, that<\/em> might.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Right now, too, we\u2019re stewards of what we \u201cown.\u201d \u00a0We hold these things on trial or probation, as it were. \u00a0If we are faithful, though, they can be permanently given to us.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bust<\/a>
The Roman god Janus had a reason to be two-faced. What\u2019s OUR excuse?
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luke 16:13<\/a><\/p>\n

Compare Matthew 6:24<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

James 1:8 says that \u201ca\u00a0double minded man is unstable in all his ways,\u201d and that seems to be the same message as given in the passage(s) above.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also Matthew 12:25: \u00a0\u201cEvery kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The great Danish philosopher S\u00f8ren Kierkegaard wrote a little book entitled Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I like that title. \u00a0It suggests that we\u2019re impure until we\u2019ve really made up our minds.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A character in C. S. Lewis\u2019s fine but perhaps under-appreciated novel Till We Have Faces<\/em> makes the point:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the time comes to you at which you will be forced at last to utter the speech which has lain at the center of your soul for years, which you have, all that time, idiot-like, been saying over and over, you\u2019ll not talk about the joy of words. I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>
It\u2019s usually neither this obvious nor this shameless and deliberate, which is what makes it so difficult.
(Wikimedia CC public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luke 16:14-15<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

To the extent that we serve God in order to gain earthly rewards \u2014 e.g., money, public esteem, the approval of members of the opposite sex, glory, or whatever \u2014 we\u2019re not really serving God at all.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I suspect that everybody has this problem, at least to some extent, at least at some times. \u00a0(We all want to be well thought of. \u00a0Most of us would like to have a bit of money, or security. \u00a0And so forth. \u00a0Such desires aren\u2019t necessarily bad in themselves.) \u00a0The task is to reduce that extent and those times as much as we can. \u00a0It\u2019s a very difficult undertaking.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPriestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion. . . . \u00a0But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish\u201d (2 Nephi 26:29, 31).\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Luke 16:10-12 \u00a0 Some of the Lord\u2019s commandments, critics occasionally point out, seem so . . . well, so small. \u00a0And, in a sense, they are. \u00a0 I remember once being asked whether I thought that a single cup of coffee would keep me out of the celestial kingdom. \u00a0And, in a sense, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4537,4540,4573,2625,3007,4576,4570],"class_list":["post-73048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-mercenary","tag-motivation","tag-motive","tag-new-testament","tag-new-testament-commentary","tag-priestcraft","tag-purity-of-heart"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Testament Notes 223-225<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Luke 16:10-12   Some of the Lord's commandments, critics occasionally point out, seem so 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