Aha

I have known for most of my life that I am an inquisitive person. I love finding out things. I love documentaries about how things work. I love to tour manufacturing facilities. I like to hear people explain what they do. And I love to take things apart to see how they work. I began doing that when I was quite young.

Along the way of my almost 60 years there have been a number of real aha moments. That point when the “light” comes on. That revelation of discovery. That “I get it” moment.

Tonight was one of those aha moments. And I am afraid I cannot even explain it to my own satisfaction. Before I attempt to put it into words I am almost sure it will not make sense in the way I would like for it make sense.

This blog was begun as a place to verbalize my journey of spirituality. It evolved into what I have been finding in some of my research into ancient scriptures. And I have tried to put into words my thoughts and impressions of what I have been discovering.

Along the way of my life I have sometimes wondered why I was repeatedly pulled back to reading, analyzing and yes, challenging the scriptures. Well, now I know. I had an aha moment that lasted most of an hour.

First, let me put in the scripture Kerry used tonight. Matthew 5.6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. KJV. This, from the Message, is closer to how someone might express it today. You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

Having been raised in the KJV I learned this scripture when I was quite young. Probably by the time I started school I had committed it to memory. And now, this evening, it has become my co-favorite verse. The favorite verse I have held dear for perhaps 10 years has been 1 John 4.19 We love Him because He first loved us.

I preached a message a number of years ago about the word first. I believe this scripture certainly can be read as Christ having loved us before we loved Him. But I also believe it can be read that Christ loved us before He drew us to Him, before He began to convict us of sin, before He began to teach us about righteousness, before He began to mold us into a person fit for the kingdom. In fact, all of those things came about because he first loved us. We love our children before we ever reach the stage of correcting them or teaching them or guiding them. I think it was the same with Jesus.

Now I have another favorite verse. But I like it in the Message format. You’re blessed when you have worked up a good appetite for God.

Now I understand why it seems like my greatest joy, my heart’s desire, is to be not just into the scriptures, but behind the scriptures as well. I want to know more than what they say. I want to know why they were said. God has never done anything without purpose. And writers of scripture did not write without purpose either.

An aha moment. An aha hour. An aha turning point in clarity. Thank you pastor. Thank you for adding an understanding of why to my understanding of what. I am compelled to search because I hunger.