Reflections of the heart...

As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man. -Proverbs 27:19

I have made a focused effort in recent days to spend more time reading the Bible. During the past week, several passages have made an impression on me, and challenged my way of thinking.

Last week, I read 1 Corinthians 15. If you're unfamiliar with the passage, it is Paul's response to people who denied the bodily resurrection of the dead. In it, he says that to deny the resurrection is to deny the central message of the Gospel - that Christ died for our sins, and was raised again on the 3rd day. If indeed Jesus has risen, the rest of us will rise too...and if Jesus did not conquer death, the Christian message is moot. It should be packed up and stored in the attic, because it would be without effect or power.

I do believe in the resurrection...in Christ and his atonement for sin. I affirm the core truths that led the first followers of Jesus to give up their lives in service of the Gospel.

It is important for our lives to have an organizing principle, something that is solid in our core, regardless of the winds of circumstance. Whatever is in your heart will be reflected in your life...for good or for ill. If I say that I believe in the power of God to raise the dead, and the power of Christ in me to change my heart and character, I must continually return to this organizing truth, and allow it to be reflected in my life.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.

1 Corinthians 15