Tuesday, March 20, 2007

(נצרות) ישו

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This . . .
When I was about six years old, my sister Jeanette had a friend named Rosalee. I can remember being so excited when she would come over to play with Jeanette. I was all about playing with them, and they were all about not wanting me anywhere around. There were a couple of games I remember playing with them.
One of the games was called house. Rosalee would be the Mom, I would be the Dad, and Jeanette would be our little girl. Our play 'house' was downstairs and the main idea of the game was for me to go to work - upstairs. The rest of the game involved me yelling down the stairs, "Is it time to come home yet?" And the answer, "no".
Another game went like this. Jeanette and I would tie Rosalee to the bed and then go hide. Rosalee would get loose and then come find us. Then Rosalee and I would tie Jeanette up and go hide. Jeanette would get loose and come find us. You're probably way ahead of me. Lastly, Jeanette and Rosalee would tie me up and go hide. I would try to get loose for a while and then yell till Mom would come down stairs and untie me. At this point, Jeanette and Rosalee were somewhere over the horizon.
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That . . .
I just started reading "The Hiding God" by Raymond L. Scott. I found it on ebay, liked the title, and ordered it. Good choice.
I remember while playing hide 'n seek with my kids, I always wanted to hide well enough to make it interesting, but always hoped they would find me after just a little effort. If it is too easy to find the person hiding, it's not much fun. If it is too hard, it can be discouraging, but in the end the "finding" is more rewarding.
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This is That . . .
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Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior.
Isaiah 45:15.
I believe God hides because He desires that we come hard after him. He wants us to knock and keep knocking; ask and keep asking; believe and keep believing; seek and keep seeking. And the purpose of it all is that He wants us to find Him. When playing with my children I always went to hide with great anticipation of them finding me.
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Matthew 7
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Jesus is hiding all through the above verse. He is hiding in a narrow place, and the verse says that the way to life (Jesus) is difficult. The good news is that all who diligently seek Him . . . will find Him.
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The title for this post is the name of Jesus hiding in Hebrew.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jerry, those stories about the games you played are pretty hilarious.

I like your thoughts about the hiding God. I have always been struck by the playfulness of God, or really, you could say romance, as well as the dignity he ascribes to humans when He says, "the Glory of God is to conceal a matter, the glory of kings is to search a matter out."

ChriS & Yvette Ferguson said...

Jerry,

Tarah introduced at Onething. I just found your laughing son on youtube and remembered I have been wanting to add you to the World's Largest IHOP blog roll. So you've been added your readership will now increase 100 fold. Consider adding me to your blog list...Thanks