Monday, August 1, 2011

Third Servant

Hey everyone! Just wanted to welcome you all to a new blog of mine. The name ' חכמה (Chokhmah) σοφία (Sophia) Sapientia' is made of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin (respectively) words for wisdom (I hope, otherwise this could be embarrassing). Now I don't purport to be wise, the title is more of an allusion to James 1:5.

The reason I decided to start this new blog with more of a biblical focus, was as a result of a revelation I had last week. Not to be a Pharisee, but when praying, something I would often ask God is that He 'bless me to overflow so that I could be a blessing to others.' Last week, while in the middle of praying this, I realized how greedy that petition was. It brought to mind the parable of the talents, where a master entrusts a certain amount of money to three of his servants before leaving on a journey. Upon his return he was pleased to find that the first two of his servants had invested and doubled the amount of money he had left them. The third and final servant however, had simply dug a hole, buried the talents he was given, and gave back to the master exactly what he had been left with. Like a slap in the face it hit me that I was that third servant. I was asking for more blessings, but what had I done with the multitude that I already had? Selfishly horde them. Undeserving of what God had so graciously given up to this point, how could I even think, much less actually have the audacity to demand more?

So is that it? It doesn't matter if I've realized my inclination toward being a third servant, if I choose not to do anything about it. Having studied a handful of languages, something I've noticed about many (if not all of them), is that there are often what seems to be two very similar verbs for one action, for example, to hear, and to listen. In English we tend to blur the lines between the two and use them interchangeably, however if you look closely, you see there is a subtle difference. To simply hear, is just being able to perceive, whereas listening involves effort, you pay attention. One is just the ability, you hear things regardless of whether or not you try, the other is an action, it requires energy and doing, you purpose to listen.

At this point, the choice is mine, just hear God, or actually listen to Him? James 4:17 talks about how knowing the right thing, and not doing it is sin. As sin doesn't look good on me (or you for that matter, just throwing it out there), I've decided to get going. This blog is just me trying to overflow, to use my writing abilities to get God's word out there. These posts are really just my take on/understanding of whatever the entry is about that day. I intend to draw on life experiences, hopefully that makes you able to relate. The first few entries will take the format 'Be ______.' Sometimes the title will say it all, and sometimes you'll have to read for it to make sense. The goal, at least until the end of the summer is to post [at least] once or twice a week, and I've put it up here trusting that you all will help keep me accountable (thanks in advance). One final thing, this blog is as much for you as it is for me, so if you have a correction, a different opinion or take, or just a comment please let me know, and you may just find yourself writing a guest entry. ;)

In closing (boy I feel like a Baptist minister!) and to borrow from the New Testament, 'May grace and peace be multiplied to you.' 

2 comments:

  1. Hey M-J
    Great Job, I'm loving it already
    You've already put a finger on something in my own life that I need to deal with, so I look forward to reading the rest of these posts.
    Keep em coming!

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  2. Great job on creating this blog! :) I'm looking forward to read thought-provoking and insightful posts about Christianity :) Jia You!

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