abk4u: The Great House of God

 

     “ONE THING HAVE I ASKED OF THE LORD,
THAT WILL I SEEK AFTER:

THAT I MAY DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE,
TO GAZE UPON THE BEAUTY OF THE LORD,
AND TO ENQUIRE IN HIS TEMPLE.”

PSALM 27 VERSE 4

 

    If I had to choose my favourite verse of scripture then Psalm 27 verse 4 would certainly be on the shortlist! It is the cry of my heart- when it hasn’t been distracted and concealed by the worries and cares of everyday life.

  The Great House of God, by Max Lucado, starts off  with the words of Psalm 27 verse 4. Using the imagery of a house- or to be more precise, a home- Lucado guides us through the words of the Lord’s Prayer.

“I’d like to talk with you about your house. Let’s step through the front door and walk around a bit. Every so often its wise to do a home inspection, you know- check the roof for leaks and examine the walls for bows and the foundations for cracks…..
What’s that? You think it odd that I want to look at your house? You thought this was a book on spiritual matters? It is. Forgive me, I should have been clearer. I’m not talking about your visible house of stone or sticks, wood or straw, but your invisible one of thoughts and truths and convictions and hopes.”

    Don’t let Max’s laid-back-so-much-that-he’s-horizontal attitude fool you: his books are full of spiritual truth, albeit chopped up into easily-digestible metaphors.  When I first started reading his books I was startled by the seemingly everyday pictures Lucado regularly uses to help his readers understand the Bible. Since then I have grown to love the use of imagery in books and stories, after all Jesus himself was a great parable teller. Macneile Dixon said:

“The human mind is not, as philosophers would have you think, a debating hall, but a  picture gallery. Around it hang our similes, our concepts…. metaphor is the essence of religion and poetry.”

    One word of caution however: there does come a time where modern day metaphors or illustrations taken from worldly things can become irreverent and self-defeating. I don’t personally think Max ever really crosses this line, but it is a danger when using illustrations as often as he does.

   The Great House of God take a look at the Lord’s Prayer and by using a ‘floorplan’ helps  us to better understand the different aspects of prayer.

• We are united as a diverse bunch of people when we gather in the Family room to meet with our Father.
• While visiting the observatory we gaze at “our Father who is in Heaven”. We see how truly amazing the recipient of our prayers is. 
• In the study we listen to the King and discover his will.
• As in any home, we spend time in the kitchen, where we are sustained and dazzled by the dishes served up.
• The walls are strong and guard us from assault
• At the end, as at the start, of our tour, we gather in the chapel where we silence our hearts in the majestic precense of our Father, the King.

We are taken for a visit all around the house of God, learning more about prayer and, indeed, the object of our prayers too.

   Sounds a tad odd?

  Well, maybe in places the metaphor is stretched slightly. But by using the image of a home, we are encouraged to pray in a real and sincere manner to our Father in Heaven.

   I recommend Max Lucado to you. Maybe long words and tough theology isn’t your scene? If so, then The Great House of God- alongside other books such as In The Grip of Grace, Traveling Light, Just Like Jesus and He Choose The Nails- will be a real blessing to you. The pictures painted by the author helped me to see Biblical truths with open eyes, and to apply them to my own life.