Counsel to the Christian-Traveller: also Meditations & Experiences
is published by What is “Precious?”
Posted By Bill Clendineng on July 7, 2009
William Shewen’s “Meditations & Experiences” begins with the statement, “It is a precious thing to know what the cross of Christ is.” And in the following entries there are many more “precious” and “very precious” things such as the light, the anointing, and knowing truth.
This use of “precious” sounds odd to our ears. “Precious” is a word that has strayed far from its ordinary meaning as “something of value.” “Isn’t that precious!” can mean something is wonderful — or that it is worthless. “My precious!” recalls images of Gollum longing for the Ring of Power in the Lord of the Rings. And then there are Precious Moments figurines.
The meaning Shewen applies to the word is derived from the Bible. In an earlier work, The True Christian’s Faith and Experience
He writes
And this true Christian is a true witness of the truth of this scriptures, Habakkuk 1:13, Jeremiah 17:10, and Jeremiah 15:19, which saith, that God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; and that he searcheth the heart, and trieth the reins, “and divideth betwixt the precious and the vile,” betwixt thought and thought, word and word, work and work.
In this understanding of things, our heart is the seat of will and choice, while our reins (literally, our kidneys) are the seat of our passions and feelings. God searches these things out and challenges us to separate the vile, that which is morally repugnant, from the precious, that which is morally and spiritually valuable. Everything about us — our thoughts, our words and our actions — will fall into one of two categories, precious or vile.
With such a stark difference before us, it is no surprise that The True Christian’s Faith and Experience seems a very judgmental work, describing in great length the spiritual failings of the “titular Christian.”
“Meditations & Experiences” is different. Shewen is mostly concerned with the morally and spiritually valuable things, the precious things, that are available to us. He does not want his readers to miss out on the blessings he has enjoyed.
- – - – - – - – - – - -
Another take on “Precious,” by Annie Lennox