The Rhodea Family

Well, we made it safely to Dallas and are spending the week with our cousins until our apartment opens up. It is 70 degrees and sunny, so don’t feel too bad for us. So far so good!

Yesterday was my (Greg’s) orientation at the Seminary, and that went well. I know already that it will be a life-changing experience to be exposed to the people that are part of the school here. Two things in particular stood out to me. One was the verse one of the professors spoke on when he gave us a welcoming message. It was Ezra 7:10, “For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.” This of course is a perfect verse for us starting seminary, and shows exactly why God had so blessed Ezra. He had disciplined himself to study God’s word, to obey God’s word, and to teach God’s word (Notice the order! It’s far too easy for us to skip the second step!). This was especially meaningful to me because this was the same verse a professor spoke on the evening of our opening ceremonies at Moody way back in 2001. So I think this verse is something of a hallmark of my education, and I hope at the end of my life someone will be able to say it was true of me.

The second thing that jumped out to me was what the school chaplain said on the subject of integrity when going over the rules. He said: “Reputation is what you do when people are looking, integrity is what you do when no one is looking.” Then he talked about Psalm 101, which is one of those passages I’ve read somewhere along the line, but have no memory of…so it’s like it’s brand new. Check it out:

1 I will sing of lovingkindness and justice,
To You, O LORD, I will sing praises.
2 I will give heed to the blameless way
When will You come to me?
I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.
3 I will set no worthless thing before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
It shall not fasten its grip on me.
4 A perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will know no evil.

6 My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land,
that they may dwell with me;
He who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me.

I think this is a powerful psalm of David where he commits to a course of righteousness and integrity. Notice particularly that last line of verse three… “It shall not fasten its grip on me.” That’s a poignant image of sin…when we give in to it, it has a way of fastening on us like a leach, and you’ve ever had the pleasure of having one of those little bloodsuckers hitchhike along with you, you know how difficult it can be to remove.

Bottom line? Let’s be people who have the same commitment to righteousness whether someone is watching us or not…because the truth is, of course, that Someone is always watching.

January 9th, 2009 | Category: Dallas theological seminary | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL