Re-Reading Is SO Worth It!

Entirely too often I am caught off guard by something that is beautiful. This world, as broken and disheveled as it is, is still incredibly beautiful. The people in this world, as broken and disheveled as we are, are still incredibly beautiful.

There is so much loveliness that goes unnoticed around us because we're 1) Too busy to notice, or 2) Too focused on things that aren't beautiful.

Even worse then missing the beauty that God has placed in this world, and in the people filling it, is missing the beauty in the word He has given us, too. And, I miss a lot. There are SO many things that I pass over while reading the bible, but when I'm re-reading, I discover something beautiful in the thing that I passed over before. I go back, and slowly catch onto something that I missed before, and it is beautiful.

No matter what though, I never seem to really see all the beauty in scripture, because every time I got back and really look, I find something new! There's always something I had missed before. The upside of this being I'll never be at a loss of something new to learn, or something that I need to re-learn.

It's actually sad how much I have to re-learn lessons.

Anyways, that's not what I was planning on writing about. I was thinking about that because that's how I came to be thinking about the subject at hand, though.

I was thumbing my way through II Corinthians one Sunday morning a while back, and came across a verse I had highlighted (well, one of many that I have highlighted). I read it, and thought something along the lines of:
"I really like this verse because it tells me that God lives in my heart!"
And then started to move on. But, something prompted me to look back, and when I did I saw something even more beautiful than I had originally seen.

II Corinthians 4:6
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ."

Before I had only looked at this verse skin deep: God gave me the knowledge of Christ Jesus, and shown in my heart His brilliant light.

Simple, true.

But as I re-read this verse, I realized that I didn't full comprehend what this meant.

The first thing I noticed when I was reading through this verse again, was that God likened our hearts to something He'd done in the past -- the very beginning of time. So, if I wanted to know more, I needed to understand what exactly this reference was.

Genesis 1:2-3
"And the earth was without form or void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light': and there was light."

Before diving in, can I just say: wow. Isn't it wonderful? God spoke, and there was light. Light came from Him: God is the creator of light. That in itself could be enough food for thought to last for days... Anyways.

The first thng that the verse from Genesis tells us, is that the earth (likened to our hearts in II Corinthians) was without form, or void, and that darkness covered the face of the deep. This tells us a few different things.
1) Our hearts are "without form nor void".
2) Our hearts are covered in darkness.
3) We are deep creatures -- there's more to us then meets the eye.

So far, this isn't a very hopeful picture. We're formless, covered in darkness, and why does it matter if we're deep creatures if we're this miserable?

Thankfully the bible doesn't stop there. The verse continues, and says (paraphrasing here) God's spirit moved in our hearts.

4) God works in us.

And God said "Let there be light"

5) God can, and will, illuminate our hearts.

So what does this all add up to? We are lost, broken, and filled with darkness -- But there is HOPE.

Let's examine these points a little more closely.

1. Our hearts are "without form nor void"

"Form" is defined as: a visible shape or configuration of something; a mold, frame, or block in or on which something is shaped. (This definition is just from the generic definition Google gives when you search for the definition of the word -- sorry, I'm in bed and don't want to go and find a real dictionary!)

So basically, we're being told that our hearts have no frame. Nothing to be based off of. They are without a visible shape.
Well now, isn't that comforting? Just that gives me a sense of despair. It makes me think of something that is lost, and doesn't have any real meaning. Our hearts don't have a solid foundation, which means they're pretty liable to be tricked and deceived because we don't have a definite position to come back to.

"Void" is defined as: completely empty. Synonyms: vacant, blank, nothingness, bare, unfilled, uninhabited.
 Definitely depressed now. Not only are our hearts foundationless, they are also completely empty! They have nothing inside them... It makes me want to cry.

If all this isn't bad enough, it goes on.

2. Our hearts are covered in darkness.

"Darkness": The partial or total absence of light; wickedness or evil. Synonyms: Gloom, dimness, murkiness, shadow, sin, iniquity, immorality. 
Have you ever truly realized how God views your heart? He tells us all of this. That our hearts are formless, empty, void of light, wicked...
I think we're apt to think that we're not really so bad as all that. But we are, even though it isn't something most will admit, or possibly even believe.
Don't these words send chills up and down your spine?! Murkiness. This word fills my mind with thoughts of sluggishness, fog, confusion, the opposite of clarity.
There is a small piece of hope in this point though. It doesn't say that our hearts are these things, but that they are covered in them. It's not a lot, but it is something.

3. We are deep creatures.

I'm not really sure how this is helping my point, but I think it is worth putting in here anyway.
"Deep": extending far down from the top or surface; very intense or extreme.
 We are more than meets the eye. I think this kind of goes with the previous point where I mentioned that our hearts are "covered" by this darkness -- in other words, there's more.

[As a side note: I do believe we are inherently sinful beings. But my point here is that the darkness can be replaced with God's light].

4. God works in us.

Up until this point, it looked pretty bleak for us, I must say. But the fact that God "moved on the face of the deep" tells us that though our hearts are formless, empty, and full of darkness/wickedness: God still will work in us.
I love how the verse specifies that it was the 'Spirit of God' rather than just "God" because it is yet another parallel between the two concepts. The Holy Spirit is what moves in this world now, and it what convicts our hearts and moves in them.
Are you really grasping this?! Despite our broken and sinful nature: GOD WORKS ON US. Why on earth does He do it?! He loves us. He loves us because He created us. He loves us, despite who we are. He loves us even though we are polar opposites of everything He stands for.

Not only does He just work in us,

5. God can illuminate our hearts.

Our hearts are full of darkness, but God can still move in them, and even more importantly: illuminate them with His light. And what does this light do? It gives us the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the savior of sinners like ourselves!

It means more than that too, though. It means that we will have the ability to understand the things in the bible because God can shine a light on them for us.

And although sometimes, (or more like always), we don't see the beauty of it all, God continues to illuminate our hearts! We can count on Hi to teach us lessons -- new ones and old ones. He can shine a light on the beautiful things we so often miss in our daily lives.

Thank you, Jesus!
~Bekah


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