reaction paper #8

Here I am procrastinating a reaction paper...again...and not doing Bible study homework for tomorrow.
At 8am.
I love Bible study and I feel like my next comment is horrible....8am is e.a.r.l.y. Especially on one of the only days I have free.

I'd actually love to be painting right now, but considering it's 11:30 and freezing cold outside, I will refrain. And procrastinate in some other way.

Romans was referenced last night at Campus Outreach which reminded me that it's been a while since I've visited with the New Testament. With OT class and my fascination with Isaiah and the Psalms, I've neglected those last few books for a while. I read Romans 8 last night ... and ended up reading a few chapters. It's hard to stop in Romans. It's just giddy excitement and anticipation for what God is doing. Isn't that awesome? We've lost that.
8:18 hits close to home right now. The stuff we're suffering with right now isn't even worth comparing to the glory God has for us in the future - the things He's been working on since time began...and let me tell you, my mind is blown practically daily by how he has woven together such an incredible masterpiece - His kingdom - in such a way that one would almost think it was painted.
Tapestries during the Renaissance became less like rugs and more like paintings. With over 600,000 colors in each, well, let's just say it was a group project. When finished, they looked like paintings.....not woven threads.
God's kingdom is so interwoven that it looks like a painting, but it's really a tapestry made up of individual strands and fibers so closely knit together that one cannot tell a single strand from another. They are so intricate, so detailed, that losing one would destroy significant detail. Losing more than one would devastate the entire work.
How are you loving? How are you building your brothers and sisters up in the Word, in the love of our Lord? Are you allowing yourselves to be woven together or are you allowing some, or even yourself, to slip away?