23 May 2022
A Call To Study The Attributes of God: A Worthy Task
Dear Listener, As I continue deeper into my study of the Attributes of God, as is my "reasonable service" or "spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1-2), I am putting out a clarion call to all believers to this worthwhile endeavour. It will change your life. As you will hear, this is not a 'task' (and I don't mean that as "duty" but as "delight') that can be crossed off a list, read in a book, studied in a course, or learned at a conference, this, dear ones, is a life-long and eternal study. In this 5 minute reflection, I have attempted, like many others before me, in describing the indescribable, monumental, yet essential reason to study the "Attributes of God." And though it may start as a duty, may it turn into one of your life's most precious delights. For to Know God is to love Him, to obey Him, to want to Know Him more! And although He's indescribable, it's worth trying! Many have tried and failed (because God is "unsearchable" and "inscrutable" (Romans 11:33-36) yet received the preciousness of Himself in the process, and to the Glory of God!
A Call To Study The Attributes of God by Melanie Hart - Monday, May 23
To study the attributes of God is the most impossible of worthy tasks.
It is life-long, inexhaustible, and to be carried with me into eternity,
and continued unendingly.
It is not a merely a book, for it cannot be opened and shut. It is beyond pages and transcends the ages.
It is not a merely study, for it cannot be started and stopped. It is beyond time and beyond space.
It is not a merely course, for it cannot be graded. It is beyond any level of education, too precious for the—-ologies and degrees.
And it is certainly not merely discourse. For every tongue could wag, could stammer, wax eloquent,
for every theologian, scholar, pastor, author, hymnist, parishioner, in unceasing declaration, while they have breath, could pen to paper, pulpit to preach, song to write, ne’er cover the height, the breadth, the depth.
It is necessarily humbling yet essentially heart-exhilarating.
It is mentally taxing, yet mind-altering.
It is physical.
It is emotional.
It is intellectual.
It is experiential.
It is as ascending Mount Everest and descending Marianna’s Trench
This revealed knowledge of God is His condescending to my creatureliness
And my attempted comprehension of the Other-worldiness of my Creator.
His immanence momentarily seemingly within my grasp, yet
His preeminence monumentally beyond my mental reach
Yet I will keep grasping, and I will keep reaching.
For it is my reasonable service, my spiritual act of worship, to be renewed in this way.
This theology is basic, fundamental, foundational, yet
His Majestic Glory and Holiness is by no means basic, and shakes the foundations of my sinful pathology.
It brings me to my knees yet
Makes my feet like the feet of the deer, he enables me tread on the heights. (Hab. 3:19.)
It’s convergence is recognized, demonstrated, castigated at the cross,
Made manifest in the God-Man, The Lord Jesus Christ,
for from Him, and through Him, and to Him all things flow,
The only Way to God, The Father, is through God, The Son, to the Glory of God!
Communicated from Genesis to Revelation, from Creation through Redemption
Covering my story from sin to Salvation, a New Creation through Regeneration
It brings answers to past, makes present a gift
Creating a future almost too glorious to hope for
It addresses joys, gives comfort to sorrows,
Yes! All of His essence our soul’s song must employ
To study the nature, the character, the attributes of God,
is for me to joyfully redeem the self-focus of my past
and is to finally, finally love God with ALL my mind at long last!
