John Pond

Lately, if you listen close you hear admiration for all kinds of things, most of them good. Living in Alabama I hear more about College Football than anything else. Sometimes my Christian Consumer ears hear more about the next upcoming big thing that stirs excitement and expectations, but for what or who? Reading about the life of a certain Christian in the 1700's helped me get my focus and affection back on the centrality of Christ and Christ alone.

"The writings of Jonathan Edwards comprise only part of the explanation for his legacy. The other part is the depth of his encounter with God. Edwards remarkably managed to hold together what we tend to split apart. He saw Christianity as engaging both head and heart, while much of popular evangelicalism suffers greatly from pendulum swings in this regard. He had an overwhelming vision of the beauty and excellency of Christ, the love and sweet communion of the Holy Spirit, and the glory and majesty of God, while simultaneously seeing wrath and judgment, punishment and justice, an also comprising the divine nature. He had a profound sense of grace and forgiveness, coupled with an acute sense of guilt and repentance. In short, Edwards knew the beauty of Christ because he knew the ugliness of sin". Stephen J. Nichols

There may be a good question here for us to ask ourselves. What or who is stirring our religious affections in our heads and hearts? Is it a holiday, a Christian gathering, a speaker or worship leader, the way you dress - if that doesn't make sense to you, thank the Lord you are not to deep in evangelicalism. Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us to throw off anything that entangles us in our pursuit for Christ. Our souls long for Christ, and nothing less than Him will ever be good enough!