I’m quite aware that I’ve been lagging behind on my Bible reading. When it comes to keeping up with the thousand words a day (which I thought I’d be bringing down to 500 words a day this year, but apparently I’m still on a roll), I seem to still have some surplus and I intend to keep it that way – but cracking the ol’ Gideon Bible for 3-4 chapters a day? Well, it’s been left too long by the wayside that I can’t even remember where I stopped off at Genesis.
Now when I do have the time to read the Good Book, one thing is always guaranteed: there’s a lot to take in and through all of it, so much that it’s a certainty that I would have to choose what thoughts make it out for posting… and I suppose in this sense I’m ‘filtering’ myself, I guess? Because it’s not like I should be spilling everything in my mind, and all of the meditations, whether shallow or deep – what matters most, it seems, is what’s retained through all of it, because what does remain after I close the Bible defaults to being what’s relevant for this time and this season. And I would say that it’s what the Holy Spirit would want us to remember, saving anything else that was gathered for another time, at the very best.
I actually had some time today to play catch-up; not just with my writing but also with reading the Bible… but instead, what do I do? Well, besides addressing other priorities (exercise and the long overdue online course), I find myself resuming my Jagged Alliance 3 playthrough and… well, it’s now a full-on binge-watch of Attack On Titan. It’s the Finale, and the story is pretty intense.
I’m into it because of the general theme I’m picking up – that of all-present chaos, and the persistent presence of lawlessness despite our own efforts to enforce some sort of effort. Thinking about all of it now, I feel as if the ‘Titans’ portrayed in this series are very good representations of evil – in that they are always indiscriminate with their ravenous hunger – never satisfied, inconsiderate, short sighted, always consuming for the sake of consuming.
We form factions according to how we respond to the evil – we fight it head on, we welcome it through worship or surrendering to fate; or, we try to control it for our own intentions, but sooner or later it all ends the same way: However we see it, react to it, respond to it, or resist it, we are all… well, eaten.
I’m still in the process of binge watching, meaning that I haven’t seen how it all ends. But, considering the limited capabilities of those who have crafted this narrative and this fictional reality (and the ensuing vacuum), I’m foreseeing camaraderie, resilience, and/or other human virtues being brought into the forefront.
As a Christian I see all of this as yet more proof of our hopelessness as human beings. On our own, even our fictional worlds are doomed to oblivion and entropy. We are as we create, and what we create portrays chaos with a little hope, if only to hold the eventual hopelessness back for a little more breathing space, a little more time to live.
Obviously there’s a lot more to gather from this excellent anime, but, just as my approach with reading the Word, I’m just sharing what sticks.
We oft mention the verses in Romans 2, specifically where Paul reminds us that it’s the goodness of God that leads to repentance. However, elsewhere in the Bible we read that Godly sorrow also leads to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). I say that while the goodness of God has us running to Christ, it’s Godly sorrow that has us running away from the flesh – Again, flesh is ‘sarx’, or the old, Godless way of thinking and living, and it is not necessarily a ticket for us to beat ourselves up in self-abasement.
I feel it works both ways – We see the goodness of God, and we realize our hopelessness on our own… but when we also realize our hopelessness on our own, let us not be surprised that, right then and there, we see the goodness of God.
It’s as if to say that we see the absolute darkness that persists in the eternal light, much as we see said light shine brighter in the darkness. Circumstances and hopelessness in all forms shouldn’t discourage us in the body of Christ – in fact, it’s in the darkness that we see the Light, it’s in the flesh that we realize the value of repentance, and it’s in hopelessness that we welcome God’s goodness so much more.
We don’t complain in the darkness… nor do we fear in hopelessness. We do not buckle as the world and its Godless masters would want us to – on the other hand, it is in the presence of sin, evil, and death where we revel in the absolute righteousness, goodness, and Life we have in Christ!
And with that said, I’m not sure what you’re going through:
You may be going through a famine of nutrition or a famine of truth; You may be experiencing a time where you and/or your loved ones are being denied good food, and/or force-fed bad food, be it for the stomach or for the brain.
Or you may be caught in the middle of conflict, dragged into war, or brought into inaction from the fear of fights and wars to come. You may be displaced from where you thought you’d settle, repositioned to unfamiliar ground, or you may have just had your physical, mental, and/or relational constants shaken or outright destroyed.
I’m here to say that even in the famines, earthquakes, and wars, even in the presence of impossible titans or paralyzing threats of things to come… Rest assured, through ALL of this chaos, Christ has paid such a great price for us to see and seek God’s absolute best, even in the worst that could happen to us.
When all else fails, we can STILL trust in God.
Until the next post, God bless you.
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#BibleStudy #Christianity #Faith #Reflections #Hope #GodsGoodness #Repentance #Anime #AttackOnTitan #PracticalChristianity #BenefitsOfSalvation #SeasonOfRearranging #FaminesAndEarthquakes #2024YearOfTrust
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