This is a photograph of a butterfly, that I took at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens. There are many reasons that this photograph brings me joy. The first thing that grabs my attention, however, is its symmetry and balance.
Note: this photograph is two megs, and large enough to make a nice screen saver. My little gift to you!
This is the 16th post in my study of Jonathan Edwards famous text, Religious Affections
Once again, Edwards draws his brilliant mind to attend to the "gracious affections" of the true believer in Christ.
Here is his 10th such affection:
"Another thing wherein those affections that are truly gracious and holy, differ from those that are false, is beautiful symmetry and proportion."
When the true Christian contemplates God's holiness, and the Holy Spirit greatly affects him with joy, so too, the true Christian, in contemplation of God's holiness, will be greatly melted because of his sin. This is an example of the symmetry and balance, of which Edwards speaks.
This was a chapter of contrasts (symmetry & proportion):
"But this is all that I aim at by what has been said, to shew that it is the nature of true grace, that however it loves Christian society in its place, yet it in a peculiar manner delights in retirement, and secret converse with God. So that if persons appear greatly engaged in social religion, and but little in the religion of the closet, and are often highly affected when with others, and but little moved when they have none but God and Christ to converse with, it looks very darkly upon their religion."
"If therefore persons are religious only by fits and starts; if they now and then seem to be raised up to the clouds in their affections, and then suddenly fall down again, lose all, and become quite careless and carnal, and this is their manner of carrying on religion; if they appear greatly moved, and mightily engaged in religion, only in extraordinary seasons, in the time of a remarkable outpouring of the Spirit, or other uncommon dispensation of providence, or upon the real or supposed receipt of some great mercy, when they have received some extraordinary temporal mercy, or suppose that they are newly converted, or have lately had what they call a great discovery; but quickly return to such a frame, that their hearts are chiefly upon other things, and the prevailing bent of their hearts and stream of their affections is ordinarily towards the things of this world; when they are like the children of Israel in the wilderness, who had their affections highly raised by what God had done for 'em at the Red Sea, and sang his praise, and soon fell a lusting after the fleshpots of Egypt, but then again when they came to Mount Sinai, and saw the great manifestations God made of himself there, seemed to be greatly engaged again, and mighty forward to enter into covenant with God, saying, "All that the Lord hath spoken will we do, and be obedient," but then quickly made 'em a golden calf; I say, when it is thus with persons, 'tis a sign of the unsoundness of affections."
Bottom line: If your Christian life doesn't contain this symmetry and balance, you should immediately seek God to increase your faith. Without this, it is possible that you are not on the narrow path.
