Inward Substance
A house is cold and uninviting when
sitting unoccupied
Voices echo off the walls and stale death reeks in every room
But when the house is lived in, it's personality changes
There is movement, rest, life and laughter,
The lives of the residents permeate every dusty corner
From the unwashed socks in the bedroom, to the lunch that is served on the
table
The house becomes a home, a place of love and hope
A place for friends and neighboursto visit, a touch of heaven.
The God of all creation has known us
From before the foundation of the world
When we was just a thought in His vastness
A sparkle in the eye of His understanding
He formed our bodies out of the dust of the earth
He gave us a unique form so others can recognize us
But this, this framework of clay, is not us
it is a body, a piece of corruptible flesh.
Yet we can complain about this corruptible
body
How it is too fat, too thin, too old, too young
How it is disproportioned, flawed, imperfect
Nothing that a nose job wouldn't fix or a month at the gym
Yet it is a carcass, an empty shell, a box to be discarded
As one would paint a house or change the oil in a car
So we care for it and hold it aloft
And admire those figures that appear more glamorous and attractive
Yet the kernel of our being, the fire
of our souls
That which was with God from before time began
Is far more beautiful than anything corruptible
The glistening light that shines out beyond us
Touching gently all those around
Bathing them with God's grace and favour
Warming their spirits with heart-felt kindness
A reflection, the substance of God's enduring love
3 August 2006
Inward
substance references:
Psa 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins:
thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made: marvellous are
thy works; and that my soul knoweth right
well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the
earth.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance,
yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Heb 10:34 For ye had compassion of me in
my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves
that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the
body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell.
Let the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength
and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14
© Stephen Share 2006