February 28

Joseph Emmanuel Pollard
February 28, 1981-October 2, 2004
"Upside Down!"

The Future

HT: Tim Challies

James 3:13-18

My longing was to know the Lord, so I began the study of
His ways and all the things He loves,
His precepts and His truth.
I dug in deep and learned to love the context of each verse and book,
And as I read my knowledge grew, with understanding, too.

And how my heart did soar in this, though others seemed content with less;
And over time, this seemed to hold me back
From what could be.
"Why aren't the others getting this?" I grumbled if the tether strained
Preventing my ascending to the heights that I could see.

And so the love that I'd first felt when I began to know the Lord
Began to fade into a sort of
Bitterness that galled.
The eager joy to know the Lord had twisted to ambition
And a tendency to jealousy quite foreign to His call.

And so, I sought to know the Lord... began again the study of
His ways, and all the things He loves,
His precepts and His truths.
And this time saw the thing I'd missed, the caveat that all of this
Depended on, and it was love,
And wisdom from above.

As wisdom knows, theology is not a thing to puff us up
By gaining knowledge all alone
Apart from God's own heart.
True knowledge of Him ends our pride and causes us to cry to Him
For grace to be a Doer of
The things His word imparts.

Let doctrine reign, and sound reproof, and all that His true word enjoins,
But don't forget His Law of Love, the other side of that same coin!

Way To God

A helpful website for seekers is called Way to God. Here is an example of what they have to offer: "The Most Important Thing." (Everyone wants to know what that is, right?)