The Rieslands 2 Big Kids And 4 Little Ones

Have you ever wondered about this? It seems like a pretty valid question to me. If the Bible says that Satan kills, steals, and destroys, then why does God allow him to continue to roam the earth and cause so much trouble?

Well, first of all, simple answers to really significant questions always bug me. So my disclaimer here is that this isn’t “The Answer” to such a profound and important question… just some food for thought from “Life As A Vapor”, by John Piper.

He starts by stating the question and proving, with scripture, that it is a valid one.

Then he says,

“Why then does God tolerate Satan? The key is that God aims to defeat Satan in a way that glorifies not only His power, but also the superior beauty and worth and desirability of His Son over Satan.”

wow… imagine John Piper saying something like that :0)

He goes on to say:

“(For God to simply snuff out Satan) would not display so clearly the superior worth of Jesus over Satan. That will be displayed as Christ defeats Satan by His death and then by winning allegiance from the saints because of His superior truth and beauty above the ugliness and lies of Satan.
…Satan is a defeated foe… Christ has triumphed over him, not yet by casting him into hell and nullifying his influence on earth, but by letting him live and watch while millions of saints find forgiveness for their sins and turn their back on Satan because of the greater glory of Christ.”

“If Christ obliterated all demons now (which He could do), His sheer power would be seen as glorious, but His superior beauty and worth would not shine so brightly as when God’s people renounce the promises of Satan, trust in Christ’s blood and righteousness, and take pleasure in the greater glory of Jesus over Satan.”

“Therefore, take up arms and defeat the devil by being bold and glad in the superior glory of the Son of God!”

“Christ’s superior beauty over Satan and sin is seen best when we are willing to suffer because we have tasted it and want to share it. One of the greatest blows against the power of darkness comes from the blood of the martyrs.“

Some food for thought for ya…

OK. So last night I was planning to take Stephanie to go see the Monet exibit at the NC Museum of Art. I love art, although probably not enough to go spend money to look at it, but I thought it would be a fun date night. So I go online to look up the cost and hours and everything, and wouldn’t you know it: the only day that the museum is closed is Monday…

And sure enough, the art museum in Chapel Hill, as well as the one at Duke are both closed on Monday… only Monday! Who sent out the memo that art lovers get Monday off???

But that’s not what I’m writing about…

Our alternative plan was to get some dinner and then start looking at stores where we might register for four wedding (oh yeah kids… break out those checkbooks :0)

So we’re in Bed, Bath, and Beyond — walking around… looking at this and that and gauking about the prices of somethings… imagining what it’ll be like when all this wedding madness is over and we can finally just be husband and wife, and then we saw it… A trash can with a price tag of ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS!

Let that sink in. One hundred dollars… as in, you can go to the dollar tree and buy ONE HUNDRED trash cans for the price of this one. And that doesn’t take into account that you gotta buy SEPERATE BATTERIES for this thing!
You wanna know why it was a hundred bucks? It has an infrared motion sensor, so the lid automatically opens when you get close to it. A trash can for people who are too lazy to open the lid.

So, I now know how I’m going to get rich so we can move overseas: The “TDL” appliance line. “TDL” stands for “Too Dern Lazy”. Our products will be for people who are too dern lazy to do the unreasonable, difficult tasks, such as:

• turn on the faucet
• plug in the vaccuum cleaner
• flush the toilet

…you get the idea!

So what do you think. The TDL trashcan is already out in the stores, so what should be our first product to market and make our millions on. You never know… YOU could be our first business partner :0)

A few days ago, Stephanie and I escaped to Barnes and Noble to get some quiet time and dig into the Word a little bit. I discovered a new devotional from John Piper called “Life as a Vapor”. It has lots of short, food for thought tidbits to chew on. Here are a few excerpts from my reading over the past couple of days:

From “A Word to the Reader”:
You exist forever. There is no use protesting that you did not ask to exist and would like not to. That is not an option. You and God are both in the universe to stay — either as friends on His terms, or else enemies… Which it will be is proven in this life, and this life is a vapor…

Closing prayer from “Does it Matter What Others Think?” :
Father, at times the way of Christ is complex to our sin-stained and finite minds. Forgive us for the times we have justified our vanity in the name of a good reputation. O, Lord, grant us, in this brief life, the wisdom and courage to please others, or not to please others, for the sake of Christ alone, and not our own praise…

From “Suffering, Mercy, and Heavenly Regret” :
But all this leaves me trembling that I not throw away the one short life that I will look back on for all eternity. Just think of it. You have one life. One very short life. Then an eternity to remember. Does not the suffering in this world seem inexplicable to you? Is not this great, global (and intensely personal) suffering a call to magnify the mercy of Christ by how we respond? Is not suffering a seamless fabric, stretching into eternity for unbelievers? And therefore, are not Christians the only people who can respond with helpful relief to the totality of misery?

Closing prayer from “Suffering, Mercy, and Heavenly Regret” :
Father in heaven, have mercy on the misery of this world. Forgive us for our part in causing the pain of others. Waken us as never before to the preciousness of Your mercy bought by the blood of Christ. Fix our hopes so full on the job of heaven that we become the freest of all people on earth. May our everlasting memories of Your grace make us glad of all You changed and all You forgave…