Lab

Mat 5:17  "Don't suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures--either God's 
Law or the Prophets. I'm not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all 
together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. 
Mat 5:18  God's Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your 
feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God's Law will be alive and working. 

One of the greatest learning tools of science is the lab. It's not enough to just read a book 
and look at some pictures. There is a great necessity to actually see the principles, formulas 
and elements at work, reacting to each other. Until that frog is actually cut into and his many 
parts located, he has just been a subject of study or conversation. It isn't enough to just talk 
about the galaxy and the placement of the stars in the sky. A whole new understanding and 
appreciation comes when those identifying elements begin to be observed through a 
telescope. To see them in the context of the sky and the infinite amount of other objects 
brings an understanding that could never have been obtained apart from this experience. 
Ok, so the personal touch, the first hand experience is essential in completely 
understanding something. However, that lab session doesn't mean that you never need to go 
to the books again. I remember when I was in college G. Gordon Liddy came to the 
University of Denver to give a lecture. I'm not sure exactly why, but I ended up going to his 
speech and experiencing him first-hand. I was really impressed with him as a person and with 
what he had to say. In reality, though, I didn't know much about him before the speech, and 
the extent of my knowledge even today is mostly what I gained from the lecture alone. It was 
like I just went to the lab without ever having done any prior reading or preparation.  Seeing 
Mr. Liddy and experiencing his words helped me to know him somewhat, but to gain any 
further knowledge of him, I would have to crack open some books and study him further. 
Now when he is spoken of, I can say I've experienced him live, but I cannot begin to declare 
that I completely understand him. This will require more information and exposure to what 
he has written and what has been written about him. 
	It is possible to go right into Jesus' presence and experience the wonder of His glory 
and His goodness first hand, to go to the live lecture. In fact, there can be no true knowledge 
of Him without actually doing this, observing His loving hand at working, hearing His voice, 
and sensing the reality of His presence. However, as He has come to be Immanuel, God with 
us, the ultimate lab experience, it is still necessary to go to what He has written and what has 
been written of Him to gain further understanding of His purpose and His will. Jesus said that 
He didn't come to do away with any of the scriptures, but to actually complete their purpose. 
Even with the passing of His great display in the skies, the scriptures would remain in their 
importance of showing who God really is and our way to knowing Him. Not a single part of 
what has been written would be left out in its significance. 
	So we've been to the fountain and strengthened by the joy of His presence, but there 
is born in this lab experience an insatiable desire to know more. There is a growing need for 
the bread of life, the feasting on the scriptures, to gain the nourishment for a healthy and 
balanced awareness of who He really is. There can never be a completed understanding of 
Him apart from the personal touch, but the up close experience alone may lead to much 
confusion and misperception if not kept by the clarity of the scriptures. On the endless road 
to a completed knowledge of this incredible Being who loves us so much, progress will be 
made only as the "live" and the "written" are given their place of appropriate consideration. I 
must know Him in His power, but it must always be in accordance to what is written. I must 
read and learn from the written, but it must also be experienced in His presence. They go 
together to complete any progress made and secure it to an unshakable reality. That I may 
know Him......


10/07/05