A
few, unconnected thoughts:
It
surprises me that they had to take a draft in order to fill the city of
Jerusalem. I suppose it just shows how very far the mighty have fallen.
This jewel of a city, polished and honed until silver was commonplace in
Solomon's day, now so broken and decrepit that men would prefer to live in the open
villages of an occupied land (see Neh. 11:1-2)...
I
wonder what Paul means by communion as "a participation in the blood...and
body of Christ" (1 Cor. 10:16)? There is
some element of "with-ness" between us and Jesus when we are taking
the juice/wine and the bread/cracker.
I
love the beautiful freedom and exuberant permission for joy that we find in 1
Corinthians 10:31 - "So
whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for
the glory of God" (emphasis mine). All of life is available to us as
an expression of praise to God. Everything that is done for the glory of
God is well done, worthy of rejoicing in. Napping in the sunshine;
playing with my children at the water park; eating that perfect peach;
organizing the garage; engaging in that difficult conversation; giving to the
church's building campaign; sending a care package to a discouraged friend;
faithfully fulfilling my work's requirements. How can I glorify God in
each of those activities?
Many
years ago, before kids, Eric and I drove over the northwestern parts of the
country on a road trip vacation. We camped in the Grand Tetons, drove
through Yellowstone, stayed in a motel on the beach in Oregon. It was a
lovely, special, memorable trip. One of the bits that we come back to
most often, though, is a moment of hilarity when we were stopped along a
two-lane highway in the dead of night (truly, it was almost midnight) in the
middle of eastern Oregon. There were no lights other than our headlights,
no cars other than us, no Siri telling us where to go and how much further it
was. But we were stopped, waiting for permission to continue on the road-under-repair
ahead of us. Somewhere up in front of us, this two-lane highway was down
to one lane and we had to wait. So we waited...for 30 minutes, for a
mid-sized white pickup to drive slowly toward us, turn around, and lead us
cautiously back along the one lane. On the back of this truck was a
lighted sign: FOLLOW ME. And, let me tell you, we did. For 10
miles, at under 30 mph, we followed that sign. We were barely coherent by
the end of it - the absurdity of it all was overwhelming: the lights, the
FOLLOW ME, the complete and total lack of other cars, the night, etc. But we were safely through that
oh-so-perilous road work. Do you see where I'm headed with this story and
1 Corinthians 11:1? We followed that truck, as it followed the road.
We were led by someone with greater knowledge, and we were protected from
unknown danger as we followed. How true to what we need in our journey
with Jesus! Do you have someone to follow, who can help you navigate the
difficulties of the road ahead, who is committed to your safety and thriving? Someone for you to walk behind as he/she walks behind Jesus?
Psalm
34 is just such a mid-sized white truck: "I will teach you the fear of the
Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep
your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil
and do good, seek peace and pursue it" (vs. 11-14). Follow this,
God's word says, through the dark of night and uncertainty. Here are the
directions; listen to the GPS voice of Scripture.
FOLLOW
ME.
-
Sarah Marsh
I love your story, Sarah, and the truth it so beautifully illustrates.
ReplyDeleteSuch a funny illustration and yet so perfectly apt. May we bring glory to God and all that we do.
ReplyDelete