A Goodbye

Blogs come and go for a wide variety of reasons. Jasmine, the author of Far Above Rubies, has written a blog encouraging ladies to seek biblical principles in their lives. The title refers to:

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
(Proverbs 31:10 KJV)

The verses that follow describe that virtuous woman, and we all find ourselves falling short. In this ‘Goodbye’ Jasmine writes:

And, I'm especially tired of women feeling like they are not worthy because we, who write, are not honest enough to tell them our struggles.
I struggle, ladies. I do.

I have commented on her blog asking that she continue to write. We are all struggling. No one ever walks totally down the middle of that narrow way to the strait gate:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 KJV)

We stumble. We veer. Our attention is caught by something beautiful – or horrible – along the wayside. We need companions who reach out with words of encouragement and guidance in those moments. Ones who have had pitfalls of their own and understand there are struggles.

Ones, who in the midst of pain and struggles can write:

I will write about the true and living God who wants a relationship with His people.  ...  My deepest desire for you is that you know the true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He longs to pursue you if you would only let go. Let go of your preconceived ideas of what God is and is not. Stop letting man tell you who God is and search it out for yourself.

That’s the gospel – the good news – a one-on-one, individual relationship with our Lord. To do that, we each have to make the choice to seek that relationship. I can only do it for me, you can only do it for you. We can share information about our experiences, but we cannot share the reality of our relationship with God.

That relationship cannot be encompassed in words. Words are too limited in scope and vary in meaning from person to person. The widely used ‘Father’ is tinged in each one of us by our relationship to our earthly father. We’ve over used ‘love’ to include the entire world, not the Greek agape, very limited in scope, with unmeasured depth.

When we look for the biblical principles for each of us to follow, know that God’s love provides what we seek, not rules. His grace sustains, not adherence to laws, and especially not adherence to someone’s interpretative standards of those laws. We need not maintain a list of ten, or a book filled with laws when we live these two:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40 KJV)

Yes, the way is narrow, the gate is strait – but it is filled with love, and ladies such as Jasmine who love their neighbors.