Post by tomdurst on Jan 16, 2010 17:38:06 GMT -5
A DIAMOND THAT SPARKLES
When you examine a cut diamond, you notice that the top of the diamond has a large flat surface. This surface is called the table. The sides of a diamond are made up of many smaller flat surfaces placed at precise angles to reflect light. These smaller flat surfaces are called facets. The facets of a diamond are designed to catch as much of the light coming in through the table as possible and then to reflect that light among themselves before it is reflected out through the table. The light reflected among the facets is what makes a diamond sparkle. (Selected from Wikipedia online encyclopedia)
Truth is like a diamond and has many facets or aspects to it. Folks tend many times to catch hold of one facet of truth and make it the whole diamond and even sometimes zealously advocate that everyone should focus on the same aspect and if they don't somehow they are spiritually and maybe even mentally deficient. The light of God shines through MANY facets of truth--not just a few. This is why we have so much variety even in the Bible. We find unity amidst great variety and ways of expression in the Bible. How wonderful is our God for giving us such a book. It still continues to outsell any other book in the history of humankind.
The Bible writers of both OT and NT wrote oftentimes on the same topic but from widely differing perspectives. I could give many examples of this but don't want to make this article long and tedious. Those of us who have been deep Bible students for many years have looked at this variety of expression as a point of enrichment and a deepening of understanding as well as pointing to the simple fact that no one messenger of God is privileged to have THE ENTIRETY OF TRUTH on any given subject. As we study truth with the guidance of the Holy Spirit there is a never ending process of new facets of the diamond of truth being opened to us and that is why the spiritual journey for me is so absolutely wonderful and always fresh and exciting. The temple of God's truth is built a little at a time and each step of the journey of learning is more wonderful than words could ever express.
Instead of running competition with one another in our spiritual walk let's APPRECIATE ONE ANOTHER MORE and learn from one another. Then the diamond of truth will sparkle brighter than ever and thus will our lives have renewed sparkle to them. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we would have more sparkle and less conflict among equally sincere spiritual seekers?