Lewis points beyond where he can see today. He points to holiness, to heaven, to the saints. He refers to people who are mature in their faith. He directs our attention to the interesting, very different people who have come to know God and are comfortable walking with Him.
But he doesn't start there. Lewis begins tonight's reading with the observation that when you first start learning about Christianity, it looks like a bunch of rules and buzzkill. And he's right, of course. But it's so very necessary that we learn those rules and kill that buzz... because we're learning like children what is good for us and what hurts us.
I just finished making breakfast. I took various ingredients from my pantry and fridge and put them into pots and pans, put them over high heat, and microwaved a few things. If I had chosen ingredients from under my sink where the cleaners are, or if I'd decided to put my hand on the heat or some forks in the microwave, I might not be here blogging right now. We learn these rules, not because they're arbitrary killjoys, but because they teach us the basic fundamentals of how to live. If we ignore these rules, we do it at our own peril.
Once we learn these basic rules, we can go on to do great things. We don't even think of ideas like "don't put your hand on the stove" or "don't put dishwashing fluid in your eggs" as rules anymore. Like Lewis says, the only reason we would even say such a thing is as a joke. Because now we have mastered the basics and we're really COOKING, being creative and finding our style and learning to cook differently from other people.
That's life. Once we learn the basics, we go on to become who He made us to be. And who He made us to be is pretty wonderful.
God, thanks for the basics. And thanks for taking us beyond them.
1 comment:
That s all about getting closer to Him.
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