Skip to main content

Tend this Triangle

                 The first words of the Bible are, “In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1).  If that is all the Bible ever said, it would be enough.  Ultimately, spirituality comes down to, “Do you believe that there is something bigger than us and more to our lives than what we see every day?” 
                The next word in that verse is important too.  It says that God “created”.  In fact, Genesis asserts that God created everything that we see around us including the heavens and the earth, light and dark, land and sea until, finally, he created humans in his own image (verse 26) “male and female” (verse 27). 
                By the end of Genesis 2, we see a pattern forming.  Picture a triangle with God’s name at the top, Adam’s at one corner and Eve’s at the other.  Adam is in relationship with God (the vertical portion of the triangle) and has a relationship with Eve (the horizontal line of the triangle).  Eve, in turn, lives in the same pattern because her corner of the triangle is connected vertically to God and horizontally to Adam.
Here is the important part: Everyone lives with-in that same triangular pattern.  Your life is not one dimensional.  Whether you know it or not, you were created to live in connection with God and in relationship with others.
                This basic truth is so important, that when Jesus was asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” he responded with the exact same triangular pattern.  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).  Every spiritual truth that you can think of revolves around either our relationship with God or our relationship with others. 
In light of this, 1 Corinthians 6:19 states that, “You are not your own!”  Therefore, we make a huge mistake when we live and act as if we are only responsible to and for ourselves. 
                Your relationships, both with God and with others, are the most important thing about you, because it is within that triangle that you receive and share the blessings of God.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dark and Light

            When you look out at the world, what do you see?             Some see nothing but trouble and pain.   They point to things like poverty, crime, problems with drugs and alcohol and marriage break-ups and say that the world is full of sadness and sorrow.   Watch the news for even a half hour and you will get the idea that the world is a dark place.             Others see nothing but good.   They appreciate generous people in their community.   They think about their friends and neighbours and smile.   They marvel at the beauty of sunrises and stars at night.   To them, the world is a bright and wonderful place.             You may be surprised that the Bible supports both of these world views.   On one hand it says things like, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the
1 comment
Read more

New Article: Five Words to Improve Your Relationships

                 In the late 1800s, it was common for railway companies to plant formal gardens beside their stations.   These gardens were filled with trees, shrubs, flowers, and fruit trees.   Sometimes they also featured a kitchen garden growing lettuce, carrots, corn, and potatoes.   Estevan’s Canadian Pacific Railway Garden was once located where Mid-City Plumbing and Heating is today.                The purpose of these gardens was to show what the land could produce.   After hours and sometimes days of riding across the featureless prairies, the railways wanted to show settlers the potential of their new home.   The gardens showed what was possible and they encouraged the settlers to transform their own land and discover its potential too.                Today’s verse acts similarly, in that it challenges us to find the potential in
Post a Comment
Read more

Forgetting What Is Behind

                   Generalizations are helpful because they show a pattern that is normally true. However, they are also dangerous because they ignore the exceptions to the rule.                  Here is my generalization:   It is a quality of the strong to be able to forget the past and move on.   The apostle Paul summarizes this idea when he states, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God had called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Too often, we trip over things that are behind us.   We remember and nurse old hurts.   We rehearse mistakes that no one else recalls.   In doing so, we pull the past into the present and allow it to dictate how we feel right now.   In these cases, we would be better off “forgett
Post a Comment
Read more