I see a lake on top of a plateau leading up to the edge of a precipice. The lake is fed from the far side by a river floowing out from the distant hills.
The lake is beautiful, and is surrounded by green fields growing all kinds of crops, being irrigated from the river and the lake. There are beautiful trees, poplars and firs growing up beside the river and the lake. The land is very fruitful.
The lake is held before the precipice by boulders built to keep the water from flowing over the edge. The land below the precipice is arid and dusty. Nothing grows there and there are lots of boulders.
The river is God’s grace and mercy. We benefit from the lake of grace, but we lack from seeing further grace and from the benefit of God’s power because we have placed boulders to dam the river, creating the lake by which we want to live in the beauty of God’s present grace to us.
By building the boulders, we do not see the river tumbling down into the valley below. We miss out seeing the magnificent waterfall. We miss out seeing the magnificence of God’s power. We miss out from receiving fresh grace and mercy. We live from past grace, storing it up for future use to irrigate our lives.
By building boulders, we are preventing God’s grace from reaching our neighbour below us. We keep the grace of God to ourselves. We do not share it. We do not let our neighbour see God’s power at work. We prevent the river of God from touching their lives. We let them wallow in the dusty dirt of their land without water, without sustenance. We keep them from experiencing God’s love and mercy.
Remove the boulders and the river flows down the precipice, flows as waterfall, clearing out a channel into the dry land, directing the water, forcing the water to flow faster into that land, washing and cleansing the land, allowing grass, crops and trees to grow, allowing that land to be fruitful.
The lake is beautiful, and is surrounded by green fields growing all kinds of crops, being irrigated from the river and the lake. There are beautiful trees, poplars and firs growing up beside the river and the lake. The land is very fruitful.
The lake is held before the precipice by boulders built to keep the water from flowing over the edge. The land below the precipice is arid and dusty. Nothing grows there and there are lots of boulders.
The river is God’s grace and mercy. We benefit from the lake of grace, but we lack from seeing further grace and from the benefit of God’s power because we have placed boulders to dam the river, creating the lake by which we want to live in the beauty of God’s present grace to us.
By building the boulders, we do not see the river tumbling down into the valley below. We miss out seeing the magnificent waterfall. We miss out seeing the magnificence of God’s power. We miss out from receiving fresh grace and mercy. We live from past grace, storing it up for future use to irrigate our lives.
By building boulders, we are preventing God’s grace from reaching our neighbour below us. We keep the grace of God to ourselves. We do not share it. We do not let our neighbour see God’s power at work. We prevent the river of God from touching their lives. We let them wallow in the dusty dirt of their land without water, without sustenance. We keep them from experiencing God’s love and mercy.
Remove the boulders and the river flows down the precipice, flows as waterfall, clearing out a channel into the dry land, directing the water, forcing the water to flow faster into that land, washing and cleansing the land, allowing grass, crops and trees to grow, allowing that land to be fruitful.
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