Terry Trivette

Terry Trivette

Friday, March 8, 2013

Not So Elementary


          I was reading a Christian magazine[i] that I enjoy when a letter to the editor (not really the part I subscribe to read) said something that caught my attention. The letter cited a quote from the legendary, fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The quote is taken from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, and the particular story is entitled, The Adventure of the Naval Treaty.
There is a scene in which Holmes, who is usually completely concrete and interested only in the hard facts, picks up a rose and says something worthy of the finest preacher or theologian. As he admires the red and green of the rose, Holmes points out that the flowers give us the “highest assurance of the goodness of Providence.” He goes on to explain that statement, and this is the quote that got my attention. He said:

“All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But the rose is an extra. Its smell and its color are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.”

When the rigid Sherlock Holmes smelled the rose, crisp and sweet, and looked at the deep, velvet red of the petals, he knew all of that was just dressing. It was just “bling”, if you’ll allow that silly word. The flower could function without being red and without smelling sweet. Yet, its Creator chose to add something extra, the wonderful ornaments of color and scent. Why? Because He is good.
In Zechariah 9:17, the prophet declares, “For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty!” There are evidences of His goodness all over our lives, if we will take the time to see them. There are “extras” everywhere – places where God has done more than necessary, adding color and fragrance to our lives. My children don’t have to giggle, and smile, and hug my neck in order for procreation to be accomplished and me to be their dad. But they do, and I love it when they do!
On a higher level, my redemption was accomplished when Jesus died for my sins on the cross and rose from the dead for my justification. “It is finished,” He cried; and it is, thank God! Technically, the Lord did not have to show up in my living room this morning and give me a sense of His presence, warm my heart, and make me smile. Had he not, I would still be saved, and He would still have be my Savior. But He did. He gave me extra. He is good.



[i] Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity, March/April 2013

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