Time and tide wait for no man and I, being a man, have missed numerous opportunities to put my thoughts into blog form. But not today. My ship is already under way.
I was recently reading an article about one of my favorite ministers, Timothy Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian of New York City. I think he is one of the most brilliant biblical expositors of our time. But this post is not about him. It is about something that was said about him. It was in reference to his relationship with his wife. It was this:
“He (Tim) really depends on her…..He is inexplicable apart from her. She has her fingerprints all over his brain, and I mean that in a good way.”
Once again, I felt myself stopped in my tracks and, re-reading that phrase, “She has her fingerprints all over his brain”, came to a conclusion.
Timothy Keller and I have something in common.
I am, too, am inexplicable apart from my wife Deborah and she definitely has her fingerprints all over my brain. And it is definitely in a good way!
As I mulled over that phrase, letting myself soak in its meaning, like a excellent marinade that surrounds a steak (I have sometimes been likened to a “Meat Head”), I realized just how impacted my life has been by my wife. Not that I have taken her for granted these last 20 years or have been oblivious to her impact in my life but those words, “She has her fingerprints all over his brain”, seem to take on a new and deeper meaning and certainly gave me pause for thought.
I realized that many of the conclusions and precepts that I thought were my own were really hers. They have just been adopted and are now claimed as “my own.’ I guess we are all like that in every area. None of us has an original thought. Everything that we “discover” has already been discovered, dissected, written about, taught on and lived out, long before we were even born. So ultimately I am a product of all that have gone on before me.
Before I drift too far away from my main point, let us cast a rope back towards my wife’s impact on my life and secure it for the rest of the blog posting.
I love how some turn of phrase can capture your whole attention and take you down and back on paths that had been forgotten or pushed deep into your psyche. I can remember times and conversations that we have had over the years which have shaped the way I think or view life, both physical and spiritual. I, if you know me well, know that I can be very convinced of my “rightness”. I will cling to that raft of “rightness” lest I am overturned and found wanting for intelligence or correct perspective.
But my wife has that ability to flip my lifeboat and dunk me into the waters of reality, then throws me a lifeline, which is secured to her perspective, maturity and stableness. She has that ability to see though me and discern between the crap and the truth. And all the time she is still loving me, in spite of my grandiose style and verbose manner.
“She has her fingerprints all over my brain.”
I recently listened to a podcast where the idea was discussed that marriage is part of the salvation process. Not that any work other that Christ’s death saves me but rather that salvation is a lifelong process. Earthly marriage is a type and shadow of what we can expect when we are united together in Christ. Should it not be a joyous union of heart, mind and soul? 1 Corinthians 7:16 states, ”For how will you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband whether you will save your wife?” The implication is that she is part of the process in helping me to understand what my union with the Holy Trinity will be like.
None of us come to salvation by ourselves. There is always someone else there who leads or speaks or models Christ and thus we are drawn. It is in the community of believers that we work out the process of salvation.
I believe that my marriage to Deborah is part of the process of me “working out my salvation with fear and trembling”. My wife is part of that process which removes the stain of “me” and slowly helps me change into the image of God. We are all created in the image of God, thus we are “icons” or images of God. But sin and evil tarnish us. And by my wife being in my life, she is a part of the process where I am being restored into a beautiful, perfectly spotless icon of God.
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as I am perfect.” Matthew 5:48
It is a process that I do not believe will be completed on this earth but is designed to prepare me for the eternal presence of God. He is coming back for a spotless bride.
I still have some cleaning up to do (with my wife’s help).
Still being fingerprinted after all these years!
Traveler
2 comments:
bg
Jeff, it is so funny that you are writing about this NOW. I have been having discussions with my daughter ~ you know her: Beth the Brilliant. We were having a discussion because she heard someone say, "It is not Kingdom for men and women to think they should be equal." She about came out of her skin. Her point: Different: ABSOLUTELY. But Scripture says in Christ there is neither slave nor free, Greek nor Jew, male nor female. They are equal! We began discussing Genesis 1:27 "So God created man (ADAM) in his own image, in the image of God he created him(ADAM), male and female he created them(ADAM)." So really we are not in any way complete -- we are only half of what God wants us to be, we are only half of the image of God, if you will, unless as couples we really are one. MALE and FEMALE -- if you will MALE plus FEMALE make us "man" or the ADAM God created. So all the stuff you referenced re:marriage and completion of salvation. I think you are totally RIGHT. Would LOVE LOVE LOVE to chat with you about all this. Jeff I am sure Deborah would write a corresponding blog -- your fingerprints all over her brain and her heart, and her spirit too. I LOVE THIS BLOG.
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