Recently I watched my granddaughter’s long hair being platted and was particularly impressed by its look when completed as the two separated parts were entwined back into one interlocking unit.
As so often seems to happen following this I then saw a programme about how God had intertwined with the Israelites in the Old Testament which was a common feature throughout from Genesis to Malachi! Here, although it was one item, namely God and His chosen people, there were two distinct parts which were the Israelites commitment to sin and God’s goodness to them in response. Undoubtedly this Hesed kind of love sustained the Israelites as the consequences of their rebellious actions came home to roost to their profound detriment.
Suffice to say that this culminated in the greatest intertwining of all between humanity and God when Jesus came, which was the culmination of God’s Hesed love action of completely undeserved kindness and generosity, expressed by His love through grace.
Here the “platting” incorporated another element, the Gentiles or more basically, you and I. Even with this addition there were still two parts, fallen humanity on one side and the trinity on the other, but each one still being intertwined with the other.
In essence this symbolises the Christian faith, through our dependence on God and His close and personalised relationship with us, 1 John 4 v 8 defines God as love, a love that overcomes our double minded sinful waywardness when we seek to break free from this intertwining by going our way, rather than The Way.
Emphasising the more personal basis we can see this intertwining in our lives, although at times it may not be immediately visible and at others it is only when looking back as with the well-known footprints in the sand story, that we recognise God’s blessing hand or influence. Of course, letting go and letting God can be difficult for a variety of reasons such as, pride, lack of revelation, maintaining self-control or even lacking knowledge where we seek to break the intertwining as shown by the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15 v 11-32) to go off and do our individual “thing”.
Could it be that no matter what the reason for our pursuing independence is, that we have failed to grasp that our lives just like the Old Testament Israelites is totally bound up with God’s love as shown through His grace of, mercy, compassion and forgiveness because of His covenantal Hesed love? That we are not alone, left to fend for ourselves, utilising our very limited resources or put more simply something like a father leaving a very young child to fend for themselves in this cruel harsh exploitative fallen me-first world.
We have every blessing (Eph 1 v 4), all our needs are met (Phil. 4 v 19) and we’re in Jesus and He is in us, whether we feel it, believe it or see it, or not, and so we can gain comfort from the fact that as Romans 8 v 35-37 says.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword. As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
However, to be more than conquerors we need that intertwining by allowing ourselves to die to what we think, feel, believe or have experienced in the past.
God operates from the highest motive of all, He certainly doesn’t need us, but as Jesus on the cross clearly shows He certainly wants us, and that’s why He intertwines you and I.
To our eternal benefit.
With all blessings
Tony
PS This blog is normally updated each Monday. (Apologies for this one being slightly late!)