Sunday, March 30, 2014

Sunlight on Sunday

Early morning sunlight through the blinds

'All right, Christianity will do you good - a great deal more good than you ever wanted or expected. And the first bit of good it will do you is to hammer into your head (you won't enjoy that) the fact that what you have hitherto called 'good' - all that about 'leading a decent life' and 'being kind' - isn't quite the magnificent and all-important affair you supposed. It will teach you that in fact you can't be 'good' (not for twenty-four hours) on your own moral efforts.

'And then it will teach you that even if you were, you still wouldn't have achieved the purpose for which you were created.

'Mere morality is not the end of life. You were made for something quite different from that. J.S. Mill and Confucius (Socrates was much nearer the reality) simply didn't know what life is about. The people who keep on asking if they can't lead a decent life without Christ, don't know what life is about; if they did they would know that 'a decent life' is mere machinery compared with the thing we men are really made for.

'Morality is indispensable: but the Divine Life, which gives itself to us and which calls us to be gods, intends for us something in which morality will be swallowed up. We are to be re-made. All the rabbit in us is to disappear - the worried, conscientious, ethical rabbit as well as the cowardly and sensual rabbit. We shall bleed and squeal as the handfuls of fur come out; and then, surprisingly, we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never yet imagined: a real Man, an ageless god, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched in joy.

'When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.' The idea of reaching 'a good life' without Christ is based on a double error. Firstly, we cannot do it; and secondly, in setting up 'a good life' as our final goal, we have missed the very point of our existence.

'Morality is a mountain which we cannot climb by our own efforts; and if we could we should only perish in the ice and unbreathable air of the summit, lacking those wings with which the rest of the journey has to be accomplished. For it is from there that the real ascent begins. The ropes and axes are 'done away' and the rest is a matter of flying."   -   from C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock

I Corinthians 2:6-10, The Message:

"We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it’s not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. The experts of our day haven’t a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn’t have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. That’s why we have this Scripture text:

No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
What God has arranged for those who love him.

But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you."



This is the life we can have here, now - in Christ.


***

 Lucy, Day 2
(okay, I promise I won't keep doing this!)


Have a blessed Lord's Day!




Photobucket

This post is linked to Sunlit Sunday 

and Shadow Shot Sunday

22 comments:

MadSnapper said...

love the God's Light shining on the book and oh how those stripes and checks look fantastic together.
and i do agree it is not possible to BE good for 24 hours or even 24 minutes...impossible without help and still very hard to do...even with the Spirits help

MadSnapper said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

What a perfect photo for Sunlit Sunday. Wishing you a blessed day.

Vee said...

Whyever not?! She's so lovely!

Thank you for these quotes from Lewis...I very much enjoyed reading them.

TexWisGirl said...

lucy, day 2, looks a bit more settled in to her newfound situation. :)

Donna Wilkes said...

Isn't it comforting to know if you stray from the path, you are always welcomed back.

Looking forward to Lucy Day Three. Think - this could be your legacy to pass to her!

Noelle the dreamer said...

God in the dock by C. S. Lewis is not on our shelves, must remedy that!
Thanks for sharing a meaningful post and no worries, we love seeing Lucy!
Checkers for your family (?), Scrabble for us!
Blessings,

Debby Ray said...

A beautiful photo...and Lucy...well she's just perfect! How exciting for you all! Blessings!

nature ramblings said...

Lovely post!! Thanks for sharing and you never can share to many sweet baby pics!

Eileen H said...

You can keep sharing photos of this little bundle of joy :-)

NanaDiana said...

This is beautiful. I read it before I saw that you had the baby and scrolled down to read that post. Congratulations, again. You can show us every day you want to-it is so fun to see the changes day-to-day. Our little girl will be three weeks old on Tuesday! I can hardly believe it!!! xo Diana

Pamela Gordon said...

Beautiful post! And beautiful Lucy. I hope you had a blessed Sunday.

My Little Home and Garden said...

You have reminded me that I have yet to read the complete set of the Narnia books by C. S. Lewis; I so enjoyed "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by him.

Your little treasure at the end is a beauty!

-Karen

Terri D said...

Oh, please keep doing it, Judy!!

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

All that light and Light!

Desert Shadows

Magali@TheLittleWhiteHouse said...

You can definetly keep posting pictures of Lucy.

Unknown said...

So nice with the light coming in through the blinds, nice photo!
//Scaniatjejen
http://www.scaniatjejen.se

Hootin Anni said...

...awwwwww, you keep sharing Lucy with us. She's a gift!!!

Chubskulit Rose said...

What a ray of hope coming through the window shining brightly.

Have a great week ahead!
Rose

camp and cottage living said...

Aw, Lucy is adorable!
I'm a big fan of CS Lewis. Thanks for sharing truth, Judy.

Denise said...

Gorgeous picture. Lucy is a ray of Son shine.

J_on_tour said...

The paraphrase certainly shows that Gods word was as relevant then as it is today with 21st century secular ideals.

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