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Body Follow
I just ran into the
following quote from the 14th volume of the compilation of Martin
Luther's writings. This man from the 1500s understood the holistic
nature of faith. this is the very holistic nature so many from the
modernistic Western world of thought had disposed of.
This is from Luther's writings on Psalm 1 and is titled: 2. But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His Law he meditates day and night.
Moreover,
this desire is the whole life of man. For there is no danger that he
would be outside the Law in any of his other members who is within the
Law in his will, the fountain and head of life. Wherever love goes, there the heart and the body follow. Again,
we are able to see the contrasting life of the pious and the impious.
The ungodly begin their righteousness from the outside and proceed
inward. First they pretend works, then words, and only afterwards do
they practice thinking; and this is the greatest height they reach.
Then they soon become masters of others. They insist that all they
think, do, and say, is holy and divine, although they never arrive at
the hidden will. The godly, on the other hand, begin from the inside.
They start with this holy desire, and then follow meditation and
external works, and after this the teaching of others, as we shall see.“And
on His Law he meditates day and night.” This meditation is not beyond
criticism unless the will comes first, for love itself will teach
meditation. Truly, as we despair of our own strength, we must through a
humble faith in Christ pray (as I have said) that the desire be sent
down from heaven. Note this well: It is the mode and nature of all who
love, to chatter, sing, think, compose, and frolic freely about what they love and to enjoy hearing about it. Therefore
this lover, this blessed man, has his love, the Law of God, always in
his mouth, always in his heart and, if possible, always in his ear. “He who is of God hears the words of God” (John 8:47); and “Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage” (Ps. 119:54); and again, “I will delight in Thy statutes, I will not forget Thy Word” (Ps. 119:6).
Luther, Martin: Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (Hrsg.) ; Oswald, Hilton C. (Hrsg.) ; Lehmann, Helmut T. (Hrsg.): Luther's Works, Vol. 14 : Selected Psalms III. Saint Louis : Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1958 (Luther's Works 14), S. 14:297
Posted by Craig Oldenburg on 5 September 2008; 1:14:17 AM
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