John Piper, in his book "The Hidden Smile of God", says this about it:
"He (Bunyan) is with us and ministering to us because he reverenced the Word of God and was so permeatd by it that his blood is "Bibline"--the essence of the Bible flows from him.
And this is what he has to show us. That 'to live upon God that is invisible' is to live upon the Word of God. To serve and suffer rooted in God is to serve and suffer saturated with the Word of God. This is how we shall live, this is how we shall suffer. And, if we are called to be leaders among the people of God, this is how we shall help our people get safely to the Celestial City. We will woo them with the Word. We will say to them what Bunyan said to his people--and I say to you, dear reader:
'God hath strewed all the way from the gate of hell, where thou wast, to the gate of heaven, whither thou art going, with flowers out of his own garden. Behold how the promises, invitations, calls, and encouragements, like lilies, lie round about thee! Take heed that thou dost not tread them under thy foot.' "
I have found these truths to be evident in my own life. Healing from bondage of my past came when I began to saturate myself with the Word of God. Guidance for each day comes when I read my Bible. And hope for the future is found there as well. His Word is real and powerful and relevant in every situation of my life.
But there is a secondary truth found in Bunyan's words, and that is the concept of "serve and suffer." I'll tackle that one tomorrow.
2 comments:
I will love to hear about serve and suffer.
My husband and I just finished reading "The Circle" trilogy by Ted Dekker and the idea of God wooing His people to Himself is a main theme in the books, he calls it the "Great Romance". It is unfortunate that we too often forget that God is constantly working to romance us over. It has shed new light on the Word for me and for our work in the ministry. To love so deeply is in a sense to suffer. To long for someone to be a part of the family so much that it is a constant pursuit because you know it is the your Father's heart that aches to love that person as He loves you. He is the lover of my soul and all that I am and He is yours as well. Fall into the arms that ache to love you with the ultimate passion, His arms.
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