Tag: metaphors

Basic Training

November 9th 

“Two things were today particularly impressed upon my heart, and may the Lord deepen the impression.”

from A Narrative of Some of the Lord’s Dealings with George Müller (Pt. 2)

Guard, through the Holy Spirit who lives in us, that good thing entrusted to you…
…be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. To please the recruiter, no one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of everyday life. Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hardworking farmer who ought to be the first to get a share of the crops. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

I was already thinking about it, but the main reasons you’re suffering through this over-quoted passage are because: a) it doesn’t hurt to hear it again and b) I finally got around to finishing watching Sherlock (BBC) a few weeks ago, and it made an unaccountably overwhelming impression, forcing me to update my own interpretation of the warrior metaphor. (The whole “we’re soldiers, it doesn’t matter what happens to us…’ bit. Apparently I have a mental folder for cliches, because Next Generation, vaudeville jokes, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day…”, various portions of the New Testament and Isaiah, and now the cornier Sherlock lines are all stored in the same place.)

Of course, I am not the person in my family that finds the ‘give me liberty or give me death‘ trope inspiring (pretty sure you can’t enjoy liberty if you’re dead), and I’m sadly lacking the epic heroism gene, so the only less fitting metaphor would possibly the athletic one. You know, where God is the really good coach, that you still kind of hate sometimes because He makes you do fartleks, or some other form of highly effective torture, I mean training. (Naturally this means that God uses it all the freakin’ time.)

Truth makes for eloquence

October 25th

When men speak of what they know and from the depths of their souls testify to what they have seen, they speak with what we call, eloquence, for true eloquence is speaking from the soul. Thus David spoke of what he knew—what he had verified all his life—and this rendered him truly eloquent. As “truth is stranger than fiction,” so the truth that David spoke is more sweet than even fancy could have imagined. And it has more beauty than even the dream of the enthusiast could have pictured. 

Charles Spurgeon in The Good Shepherd

But Moses replied to the Lord [after the burning bush… and being given a whole speech to give to the leaders of Israel… and the snake/staff thing… and the temporary leprosy thing] “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent —either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant— because I am slow and hesitant in speech.”

The Lord said to him, “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.”

Exodus 4:10-12 (HCSB)

…and then Moses said “Please, Lord, send someone else,” (which was pretty stupid, but then he was rather new to all this). Upon which the Lord got really angry and essentially established the priesthood, which I feel is sort of a disproportionate response, given everything that came after, but he’s the boss.