an excerpt from: Prerequisite

An excerpt from: Prerequisite

It is hard for me to hear truth when my heart is distracted with other desires, and there are so many distracting desires. Which means, in order to effectively discern the truth, I must take command of my heart’s affections. But there is a danger in giving my mind control of my heart because I am very capable of deceiving myself with logic or theory or philosophy or emotion. I need God to control my heart, to lead my mind in the right and true way, to go before me and behind me and all around me, and to make my footsteps firm so that I can see and enjoy art to the fullest possible measure and degree of pleasure that God has purposed and established art to have, all for my enjoyment in Him.

So I must humble myself before the Lord and ask Him to lead me into paths of righteousness for His name’s sake and for my joy. I must yield my heart and my mind to the Lord for His probing, so that I may learn what harmful ways exist in me. And so, to set our bearings straight, let’s first yield to a washing with the Word of God and meditate on these exhortations from the Bible as we wrestle to discern the affections of our heart in art. Don’t be tempted to rush through these verses. Pray through them, meditate on them, push on them, consider them, “for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2 Tim. 2:7b). Where they convict, repent and be free! Where they encourage, embrace and put them on as your shield and sword in this fight of faith in the art arena. And where they illuminate, worship God for the depths of the riches of His wisdom and knowledge and beauty.

Enjoy the word of God more than thousands of gold and silver pieces!

“There is nothing better for a man
Than to eat
And drink
And tell himself that his labor is good.
This also I have seen
That it is from the hand of God.
For who can eat
And who can have enjoyment
Without Him?”
- Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

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excerpt from The Affections of the Heart in Art - a wrestling for the full pleasures in art Jason Harms