“By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God's call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.” (Hebrews 11:8-10 MSG)
My son is reading an excerpt from City of God, by Augustine. He reads it out loud, while I listen. Augustine packs a lot of wisdom into each line, so we pause and dissect each paragraph as we go.
I won’t attempt to summarize or analyze Augustine’s thoughts in a few lines. But I will just mention one concept that I’ve been thinking about. Augustine contrasts the City of God with the City of Man--a God-centered life vs. a self-centered life.
The Israelites (Abraham’s descendants) wandered in the desert for years before they reached the Promised land.
My son shows a lot of promise and potential. Sometimes I get discouraged as I watch him wandering around in the spiritual desert.
Yet, I cling to the assurance that we will all reach the Promised Land. There will be a time when we will fulfill our potential to live a God-centered life in the City of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment