Pixels

When I was a new and callow Christian, someone told me never to sing "I have decided to follow Jesus" because it is Arminian. I had been tipped off about Arminians (though I had never encountered one in the wild) --- persons who thought too highly of man's capability, and who believed that man is able to thwart God's will.

That one took a long time to get over. But now I sing "I have decided to follow Jesus," and "Today (As for me and my House)" and "Just as I am I come," and any number of other dicey hymns. I do it because I see that the Bible uses that kind of language in places, language that calls me to make a decision for Christ, language that warns of dire consequences of not doing so. So if it's good enough for the Bible it's good enough for me. (I also sing plenty of songs about grace and how God delivered me, which is also in the Bible.)

Nowadays I think of the teachings of Scripture as similar to the pixels of a picture. The contents of God's mind would burst the seams of my wineskins. But he "translates" his mysteries into tiny components of the image, arranged side by side for me to read and meditate on each one. The more I read of his Word, the more pixels I gather, and the higher the "resolution" and sharper and more accurate the perception of Truth.