A clatter rattles him from sleep, jolts him upright, heart thumping.

Breathless, unrested, he’s gained such meager nap!

The explosion of noise, he realizes right off, was icicles, great stalactites loosed from their grasp on gutter and tumbled hard on roof just past the window.

Nothing worth heart-thumping fright.

But…

well worth a wake-up to warning: those ice tusks grown heavy, sooner or later falling, when full-blown light bears down… Well, if it’s later and they’ve grown enough greater… they. do. damage. they could even kill a person.

God draws. Christ draws. He said,  “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (Jhn 12:32 ESV). 

His drawing: We were talking about that, in the last post’s comments. One called it irresistible, referencing R. C. Sproul. Others of us realized its pull at our hearts from childhood—yet noted how, in young adulthood, our interest grew cold, and we resisted it! 

How can one resist the irresistible? How can one wee mite of a mortal, on a tiny earth, push away Love advances greater than the universe? 

Yet it is so.

He draws, summons, pulls us all toward His warm embrace. He’s sovereign, all-powerful. Yet He gives us the option to spurn Him.

And we do. We draw away. Even we who know His love and favor, even His miracles! Our souls chill with indifference, if not disdain.

How? Why? What draws us… away

Last post quoted Augustine, writing of scholars too enamored of their own intelligence:

In their impious pride they draw away from You and Your light, because these scholars who foresee a future eclipse of the sun long beforehand fail to see their own in the present…

It’s ridiculous, so-limited a man puffing up himself in pride above His Maker, Whose circle of knowledge circumscribes his own so far he can’t see its boundaries! Yet many big-brained (big-ego-ed, really) do it, even after unearthing more evidence of God’s greatness than “lowly” people learn. 

I witnessed this, painfully close. My brother learned to worship his brain, and it eclipsed his spirit, possibly right up to death. His widow believes He surrendered, the rest of us hope she’s right…

Pride fed by people’s commendation—for letter grades, check-mark-free papers, and scholarships to prestigious universities (full of people who know much and yet resist)…

I could weep.

I have wept…

But pride can take a different form. One commenter said she resisted the gospel because “I didn’t need saved.” We think we can be good enough our fallen selves. (Just as ridiculous a pride as the above.)

What of me, even now? I know God in relationship. He’s shown me so much about His power, love, and goodness… Yet, just this morning I woke in spiritual lethargy…

A hymn spoke my heart. I sang it: “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love…”

Honestly, I do know how this happens. Through pride (as mentioned)—and desires, of a fallen, self-centered heart.

James said it:

“Everyone is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed…”

The heart gets iced.

Just a little glazing, you’d hardly notice.

But “then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin…”

The ice builds…

“and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death…” (Jas 1:14-15).

Oh, wretched woman that I am, “who will rescue me from this body of death?”

Not myself! (Romans 7:21-25)

“Thanks be to God who gives us the victory!”

But I need to ask for it. Because He gives me this choice.

And so I do.

I must kill all the dead stuff, all the hard icing of the heart, building up weight, growing damage potential like those spears above the roof.

So, I often sing the song…

Come Thou fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy praise.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise…
 
O to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Take my heart, O take and seal it.
Seal it for Thy courts above.              -Robert Robinson, 1758
 

~

Q4U: What draws you… away?

*****

Linked to

WIP Wednesday @ New Life Steward

12 thoughts on “And Yet We Resist (Why?)

  1. These verses that you share here have come to mean a great deal to me:

    Oh, wretched woman that I am, “who will rescue me from this body of death?”

    Thanks be to God, that He sent a Rescuer.

    Great post.

  2. And me, Jennifer! So grateful for the Rescuer!
    Thanks so much for visiting and commenting.
    Blessings to you and yours!

  3. I love your words of hope here. The ice builds…but we can change it. Even by one step towards him…singing a song. And ultimately–He is our rescuer! Blessings…

  4. Yes, Amy, sometimes just singing a song! So glad you stopped by and commented! Thanks!

  5. I love that song. I can’t sing it and not become emotional. To know ourselves even in tiny retrospect is to know the depth of those words.

    The supernatural gift from God of freewill tends to make people think too much of themselves. They mistake the “image of God” with being a god. We and they can think ponder and even grasp some of how the mind and earth work, yet they with all their knowledge still can’t grasp what powers the cosmos or even where the wind starts…

    A few pointed questions to the “enlightened” of this world reveal not only the lost, but what God describes as “fools.”

    Love the post, the analogy, and the heart. Many hearts beat in time with our Father’s and yours.

  6. Great post, Sylvia! I love that song…especially this verse:

    “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Take my heart, O take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above.”

    A prayer I believe He is faithful to fulfill…

  7. That breaking ice – the jolt, awakes us out of slumber.
    We adjust and realize that we are now in his presence. So much goes on while we are sleeping, it is time to awake.

  8. Yes, so prone to wander and get caught up in pride! Praise God that He can overcome all resistance, melt even the iciest of hearts! So beautiful! Thank you for sharing, Sylvia!

  9. Well said, Floyd: “The supernatural gift from God of freewill tends to make people think too much of themselves. They mistake the “image of God” with being a god.”
    Of course we don’t like to admit it in such hard-honest words, but that’s how we are. My heart sings that song often, and I am so grateful for His grace!

  10. That’s my key verse in the song, too, Joe. And yes, I believe also that He is faithful to fulfill it. In fact, I stake my life on it! Thanks for commenting.

  11. Yup, Hazel, that’s (unfortunately) what it often takes to wake us up. I’ve had a few jolting crashes! I hope I’m getting better at knocking off those icicles before they grow big and damaging! Thanks for stopping by to comment.

  12. Mary, you are right. He is able to melt the iciest of hearts. I’m so glad he melted mine! Warm blessings to you!

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