Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Books, Books, Books!

Everyone has some pastime that they have been given to love, some have several. For the past many years I have come to love expressing my love for my family by preserving our memories in scrapbooking. My entire life I have loved horses and drawing them. While I was in school, I was an art student and relished the joy of creating something visually pleasing. But my enduring love; my escape; my window to other worlds, times, cultures, and knowledge, has always been books.

Through books I have traveled to Victorian England, the Depression-era South, alternate realities, the Middle East, the White House, a Soviet Gulag in Siberia, the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, the Downs of Yorkshire... From books I have learned that writing thank you notes for kindnesses received shows consideration for others; that punctuation can be a fun and stimulating challenge; that Paris rose from an obscure village on an island to become the center of power, controversy and intrigue in France; that God was present even amid the horrors of Nazi Concentration camps.

The most important thing that I have,... or could possibly, learn, I learned from a book. That I was hopelessly lost in sin with no way- or even inclination- to call for a Savior. That my sins, multitudes daily, had offended an infinitely Holy God. And yet...

Yet.

That very God, who would have been perfectly just to condemn me to the fires of Hell for all eternity, set in motion a plan to rescue me. He sent His Son to live a perfect life on my behalf and to take all my filth and shame onto Himself while dying on a cross, that I may be clothed in His righteousness as I stand before my Judge.

Oh hallelujah.

And while I yet live I may, by continuing in this book, learn to know my Lord, take comfort in His continuing care, and be certain that His sanctification of me is ever towards a glorious purpose. By focusing on Christ first, then others around me, I may daily die to my selfish desires and the sins that claw at my soul. Christ won the war for me, it is mine to follow Him and fight the skirmishes with the enemy that would rather convince me otherwise.

Today I begin a Bible study with ladies from my church where we will study The Attributes of God, written by Dr. David Walls. Not yet published, I managed to contact Dr. Walls and he gave me permission to copy and use his study as often as I need. I pray that this study will further deepen our appreciation for and love of God. To go through this journey with these women will be such a blessing.

All glory and praise to God!

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