“Thy glance is upward, and thou dost carry high the head,
and thus thy search is heavenward: then lead thy soul too upward, lest while
the body is higher raised, the mind sink lower to the earth.” (pg.68)
This illustration
is intriguing to me. Animals generally keep their heads low to the earth. Their
head is situated to face downwards whereas humans naturally glance upward. In
the same way, we are capable of higher thought than animals. As human beings,
we are not created to keep our thoughts on the level of the ground but to think
beyond the worldly things that surround us. This reminds me of Philippians 4:8
where Paul says “whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things”. God did not create us to think only on the passing things
of this world, so He gave us the ability to think on things that are higher and
more virtuous. This cannot be mistaken, however, with the idea that we can
attain the height of God’s thoughts. He reminds us in Isaiah 55:8-9, that His thoughts
are not our thoughts, and His ways are higher than our ways. This is an amazing
truth. Not only are we created with the ability to think deeply, but our Creator
still holds mystery and wonder for us that we will never be able to fully
understand. Our God has revealed Himself to us, yet retains His incomprehensible
mystery and glory.
I commented on Wendy and Ethan's post.
I commented on Wendy and Ethan's post.
I think keeping this mindset humbles us and places us in a better position to worship God the beauty of his power and sovereignty. The second we forget that is when we lose sight of our place in the world and begin to worship ourselves, thinking we can somehow equate to God. A balance between receiving God's Word and what it has to say about us as his children, and remembering that we are mere children, looking to the Father for al things. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
ReplyDeleteMaking the distinction between Man, whom walks upright with head high, and animals, whom keep low to the ground, was a brilliant way to illustrate how loved Humans are by God.
ReplyDeleteIt is extremely humbling. The verses you quoted make me think about what I spend my time thinking and dwelling on. I ask myself if I am constantly thinking on the things that God would want me to. Sadly, the answer is no many times.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good reminder of what I should spend my time thinking about. Often, I spend my time dwelling on my own thoughts when I should be dwelling on the thoughts of the God of the universe.
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