In the world of detectives there are few names that can outdo the reputation of the fictional character, Sherlock Holmes. Holmes was created by author and physician, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887, and grew more and more fame through the followings years as the astute detective who solved one case after another. Sherlock Holmes was in a class by himself as he used forensic science and a super sharp intellect to solve the most difficult cases with relative ease. What would usually escape the normal eye would catch his eye as he consulted with the police and helped them bring criminals to justice. He is a character that has stood the test of time as the reemergence of Sherlock and his sidekick, Dr. Watson, has been seen in two movies featuring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Also, the TV show, Elementary has risen to the top of the heap of late night television with a modern day Sherlock and a female sidekick. It's amazing that something written before the turn of the century could garnish such strong interest in our modern day world. But it has.....
Ah, the art of mystery is always a compelling and attractive draw for most people, and especially for me. I love to see the unfolding of a story that makes the mysterious become the obvious. It is that love for mystery that draws me in again and again.
What is it about mystery that compels such a following, that captures our eye, that draws us in to know more. Some say it's curiosity at it's highest level, and some say it is our habitual desire to uncover everything unknown. I believe both are true and for me the unknown has always been fascinating. The definition of curiosity is the strong desire to know or learn something. It is this curiosity that helps me discover more and more of the truths of God's Word, and also puts more and more pieces of this puzzle we call life together. Oh, I'm no expert, even with my many years as a believer, I struggle to keep interest and at times just drift. The great thing about the Holy Spirit is He won't let my ship drift without giving me a gentle breeze to get me going in the right direction again. It is this breeze that directs me from truth to truth in God's Word, to keep me on track and on course. You may say, "what's the big thing with mystery?" If you look in Colossians chapter 1 and 2, you will see that the exposure of truth in the midst of mystery means eternal life in heaven and abundant life here on earth for those who are curious. In 1: 26 and 27 Paul says, "that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." In this case, curiosity doesn't kill the cat, but gives full and complete understanding to those living in the shadows. Paul goes on to say it is our need to proclaim Him to every man that makes us come to life as believers. But it gets better. In verses 1-3 of Chapter 2 in Colossians Paul goes on to hammer the point that the mystery is Christ Jesus Himself. He continues to share that when that mystery is solved through faith in Jesus, all other mysteries begin to be solved in the wisdom that comes from that one thing, a regenerated life. Paul makes a very bold statement in verse 3 where he says, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Woh! This is huge for those who know Christ. It also further emphasizes a truth Jesus gave in Matthew 6:21 where He says, "It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being." Paul spoke about this treasure truth to his son in the faith, Timothy, in 1 Timothy 6:20 where he says, "And oh, my dear Timothy, guard the treasure you were given! Guard it with you life. Avoid the talk-show religion and the practiced confusion of the so-called experts." Here is the truth of the whole thing. If we have Christ in our life, life is NOT A MYSTERY! That's it, that's the truth and that truth opens a whole new way of thinking and perceiving those things around us. This is where the truth starts to get a little bit weird though. It's start to cause us to really fine tune our faith and start looking at things through God-inspired glasses. It starts to bring questions to mind. Like what if the way we do church and live our Christian faith in America is not exactly what God wants, and what if the way we do things is not directly from the treasure of truth that God has given us, but it is from second hand information and tradition that has long since become ineffective? What if, instead of God's Truth progressing in our lives and radically changing us, we are getting "filtered truth" that is filtered through religion and denomination? You may say, "David you ask too many questions. You have been in a denominational ministry for over 30 years, so just drink the kool aid and live out your life." If you are saying that to me, then you are saying it to the wrong guy. It is this great truth that compels me to ask why, and why not when God's Word upsets my apple cart. Remember, we only question when we look realistically at where we are in life, and those questions keep us from becoming stale and ineffective as believers.
Back to Sherlock Holmes and his strong desire to solve the mystery. His Nemesis, Moriarty, tried to keep the truth from surfacing so he could conquer the world, when the world was asleep to the fact that he was building a huge war machine. Sherlock saw the clues and pursued exposing Moriarty and thus exposing the lies he had put in place to confuse those in power. In the end Sherlock was willing to give his life to expose the truth and thus bring light to the shadows. Just like Jesus came and gave His life and brought light into the shadows of man's reasoning, and brought light and life in the midst of hurt and despair. Jesus is the ultimate mystery solver, because He is the answer to the mystery that lived in the shadows. His light has exposed the truth that we believers treasure in our hearts. He is the one who goes ahead of us, guiding us from one truth to the next. I believe it is imperative that we follow Him and His truth in these perilous times and expose the truth to everyone we meet so that they too can see the truth, and thus come out of the shadows into the light. No more mysteries. The light has come to abolish the shadows and the evil one has been exposed, and a life has been given to keep that truth exposed and growing. May it ever be so in our lives.
1 John 1:1-3, "From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in-we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ."
The mystery is solved. The light has come. His name is Jesus and He is the treasure we carry in our hearts every day. He is the hope and He is the life. My Savior!! May I never compromise His truth by believing the truth from man.
The Pilgrimage continues....
David Warren
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