Just A Sentence

A link from a Pastor's FB Notes brought me to a FAQs page about John Piper.  I found great truth there:

"It is sentences that change my life, not books."

That sentence stopped me in my tracks.  It agreed so much with what I've come to understand.

"What changes my life is some new glimpse of truth, some powerful challenge, some resolution to a long-standing dilemma, and these usually come concentrated in a sentence or two."

It has been sentences, a few or maybe just one, that I’ve posted each day.  A sentence here, another there, from God’s word.  It takes but a few words to create concepts, foundations, curiosity – and the Bible has sentences that will do all of that and more.

The first most Christians refer to is the gospel in a single verse:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)

That is the foundation of Christianity. It requires a belief in a loving God that makes promises with eternal ramifications. It creates curiosity about God and His Son.  We should wonder what is meant by “perish” and about “everlasting life.”

How about these two sentences:

A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalms 27:1 KJV)

How would that sound to someone new to the Bible.  Would they seek to learn of David?  Would they wonder who his Lord was?

Piper quotes sentences from other sources, too.  One we like in common is:

From C.S. Lewis in his sermon, The Weight of Glory: "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We are halfhearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mudpies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

That last sentence can stand alone as a remarkable one.  “We are far too easily pleased” by television, music, celebrities, even what we term idols.  As a child we were shown “Leave It To Beaver” and recognized our families did not match theirs.  Today Americans are shown “Jersey Shore” and “Teen Mom” and our children are trying to match theirs.

What sentences impact your life?  What are you sentences are you taking into your life? What sentences come from your life?

Can you describe your life in a sentence?  I think Paul did:

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21 KJV)