Giant Squid

The following is a copy of the Thomas Question email devotional. You can subscribe to the email edition from our website and tune into our podcast.

We know the giant squid exists because we find their indigestible beaks in the bellies of whales that have eaten them. That being said, we’ve also never actually seen one alive in it’s natural habitat. Funny, we think all the frontiers have been explored and we know most of what there is to know. But on our own planet there are still unexplored regions and undiscovered creatures. Anyway, back to the giant squid… We know it exists but we’ve never seen one alive in it’s natural habitat. Which leads to a principle: if you want to find something, you need to know where (and how) to look.

I have to admit that if I were God’s publicist, I’d recommend that He do things a bit differently. The almost complete absence of His public appearances is an obstacle many find too large to overcome. “God sightings” have been at a definite low for about the past 2,000 years. It is claimed that He shows up on Sunday mornings all over the world, but this is almost exclusively in the realm of a certain kind of person. A church person. And the can be (admittedly) a little crazy.

Many of the scriptures that have to do with God encounters seem to indicate He has at least one thing in common with the giant squid (for now, at least). His natural habitat is one we have a hard time accessing. For the past few weeks, I’ve been referencing a single scripture verse which is becoming more and more important to me all the time. Matthew 5:8 says “blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God”.

You are His habitat, you see, and purity makes that habitat “ideal”. Now purity us much more than just “good behavior”. It’s also about the goodness of our intentions. So somehow, our way of living can either throw Him into sharp relief or obscure Him almost entirely. In similar fashion, there are some paths which give a better display of a natural wonder like Victoria Falls, and some paths which leave too much foliage in the way. Are you on a path that even can provide a clear view of Him? Live to be the ideal habitat – live to make a God encounter more likely and you may be surprised…

It’s horrible to recommend your own “snake oil”, but the things we got into last Sunday about “guidance” are one of my favorite things to talk about. If you missed it, tune into the podcast. We’ve gotten a lot of interesting feedback so far. I’m as excited about the material for this Sunday, too as we wrestle with “Why is the ‘fear of the Lord’ the beginning of wisdom? Are we really supposed to fear what we also love?”

Hope to see you there,

Chris

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