"Don't do this ... Don't do that !"

The above image is copied  from a very old vintage catalog. Even in black and white the body language speaks loud and clear  !  

 The mother struck a match to light the candles on her festive dining room table.
She looked up to see the gleam in her 5 year old son whose wide-eyed attention was focused on what she was doing.  Replacing the match box in the cabinet drawer, she looked up to note the intensity of his gaze  riveted on the drawer as she pushed it closed. Knowing her son, she easily discerned his intent .
Wanting him to focus on the 'right' things, she said , "Bobby, there is a lovely set of trains in your toy box. Play with them, or, Call your little friend next door and ask him to play in the pool with you."

As experienced parents, we shake our head at her lack of 'mother-wisdom'.    Bobby heard not a word about the 'good commandments'  his mother gave him - his mind and will was focused on those matches and the fun he could have playing with them.
We easily guess the end of that story !

I often hear people complain about God's commandments.  "Why are they all so negative ?  'Don't do this, don't do that'."
God, being a wise parent who fully understands His children, knew that the human race was more inclined toward disobedience than toward obedience.  So He  gave His commandments from the perspective of our fleshly weakness.
We do wrong before we do right;
We sin before we seek righteousness;
We indulge the fleshly desires before we exercise ourselves in godliness.
We are selfishly inclined before we learn to consider others before ourselves.

How easily God could have thought - and rightly so - that man was sinful in all his ways, and whatever bed man made for himself he could just lie in it. 
No, we do not serve that kind of God.
God loved / loves every person  and desires the best for him.  So while He desires that we do right, He understands that first we will tempted to do  the 'wrong', so God gave us a list of 'wrongs' to avoid.
We try to hide our sin from others, and oft from God Himself, but if you read through His Ten Commandments, you will see that God knows exactly where our heart inclinations lie. He knows  the temptations that we so easily give in to. He understands the weakness of our flesh.

It is tempting to read through the commandments and soothe our consciences by judging ourselves not guilty -- especially of the 'do not murder' one.   But Jesus puts His finger on that one and points out that every murder is birthed in feelings of hatred.  And if we hate, we have already murdered in our heart. 
I recently gently chided a friend when she expressed her hatred for someone in her life.  She stopped for a moment, considering my admonition, and then replied, "Okay, I don't hate them, I just can't stand them."    We may smile - but wait -- are any of us really innocent?  Do we not all at some point or another just 'relabel' our emotions / feelings , even actions, and then declare ourselves innocent of disobeying God's commandment?

I find it so comforting - so freeing -  that I don't have to be afraid that God will find our what I am really like.  He already knows and loves me anyway.  That sets me free to rush into His presence where I will find the grace to grow more like Him.  Being in His presence turns me away from the sin 'that so easily besets us' and I desire much rather to  pursue goodness and righteousness.

 In Jesus' words ... "There is no other commandment greater than these ... Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength .....  and love your neighbor as yourself." Mark12:30,31
Love covers and fulfills every commandment God gave ...  the do's and the don'ts.
 If  we whole-heartedly love God and love each other  ... then there will be no cause for stumbling in us. (I John 2:10)

Gift ? or Gag Gift?

Two identical gift bags. One contains a useful gift, the other a gag gift.

I have never met anyone who does not get excited over a free gift or a good deal!
We are happy to be able to buy what we want or need, but if we can get a bargain we are over the top excited and eager to tell someone!

Why is it such a universal trait to be excited about a good deal? 

I believe it is written in our DNA make-up.  God has pre-programmed us with certain 'helps' to make it easier for us to live a fulfilling and productive life - to live in the way He created us to live. Even something as simple as appetite, a love of food !  God didn't want us to forget to eat and starve to death.

That we place a  high value on things we get free or at a bargain is another example of those helpful tendencies God put in all of us. 
Why?
 So that we would be able to value the free gift of salvation! Salvation - a gift so valuable that not  one of us could  begin to pay for it, not even if we worked for an eternity.

Like all of God's gifts to us, our love for freebies or bargains can be an asset or it can be our downfall. 

I needed thread for my embroidery machine and I found a wonderful 'bargain' on Amazon.  I was able to order forty spools of good quality thread for $34.00 including shipping.   Had I bought the same amount of thread at my local fabric store it would have cost me close to $400.00.  Of course, I'm thrilled with my bargain.

My granddaughter's friend , a single mom, is struggling to make ends meet.  She met a nice young man on line and thought he was a gentleman and trustworthy.  He was a business man and gave her a glowing report of his success.   He made her a tempting offer.  He promised if she gave him a few thousand dollars he could in a matter of a couple of weeks double or triple it.  She borrowed the money to give him, and ....  yes, he took the money and was gone.  The 'gift' was not as free as it looked, nor was it a bargain.  Instead of making her life easier, it became harder.

A friend of mine, who recently lost her husband, told me of her granddaughter who had gone to see a medium.  The medium, who had never met girl,  looked at her and immediately put her hand over her heart and said ... "Ohh .. you have had a loss! and purple amethyst is important to you."  - the birthstone of her grandfather. And she went on to tell her her grandfather was fine and was very happy where he was.
The sympathy felt so sincere ,  the message so comforting ...   BUT was it a free gift?  or was a gag gift - a trick gift. How could she know?

Often gifts and gags look equally tempting and appealing.  How do we tell the difference? Sometimes experience or common sense will enable us to make a wise choice ... but other times, how do we know which ones to accept and which ones to turn away from ?

We need someone who knows what is in the 'bag' before we open it.
 And, thankfully,  we have Someone who does, don't we?

We have a God who sent His Spirit to dwell within us,  who guides us through the maze of life choices. A God who gives us the wisdom we need to see beyond the 'pretty wrapping' of any 'free gift' offer. A God who knows what is good and what will cause us harm. Do we sometimes turn His voice off , and then, too late realize we made a mistake?

We also  have God's Word that is our handbook of instruction - how we are to live in a confusing world and make sense of it.  God's Word will keep us on the straight path and keep our eyes and ears open to discern the enemy's temptations and recognize his lies.
Keeping our focus on the Lord, and His word in our hearts and minds, will keep us from opening 'gag-gift' bags and will keep us in the blessings of His abundantly good 'gifts'.

A Thai Cave Parable

There is an ongoing captivating news story that has held the the world's attention for the last two weeks.

In Thailand, twelve boys and their coach were trapped in the depths of a cave, one-half mile from the surface and a mile and a half from the cave entrance.
Though it was monsoon season and the coach knew that cave conditions could suddenly change, he chose to listen to a contrary opinion, a weather report that did not call for heavy rain, and he decided it was safe to take the boys caving -  a post-game outing.
Anticipating the fun of a short day-adventure, the boys entered the many-tunneled cave. That day the unexpected happened, a sudden downpour and a flash flood quickly flowed into the cave blocking the only exit from the cave.
They were trapped  with no way of escape . Being familiar with the cave, they used the light from flashlights - whose batteries would soon die, leaving them in total darkness -  to find a shelf where they were high enough to stay dry.
The world outside watched the desperate attempts, of many volunteers, to find them, hoping against hope to find them alive.  Finally,  on the tenth day of intense searching, two English divers located them.
Incredible relief and joyful cheers reverberated around the world !
 But their ordeal was not yet over. Getting them out was not an easy task. One solution under consideration was that the boys would have to wait up to four months until the rainy season was over and the water receded enough for them to be able to escape safely.  Thankfully, another way of escape was found to bring the boys out in days, rather then months. The boys were taught the skills they needed to learn, and taught how to wear the gear to allow them to breathe underwater as scuba divers guided them out. At this time of writing,  four boys and their coach are still in the cave awaiting their turn.

I tuned in daily, watching, prayerfully hoping the boys would be found and rejoiced when they were all thirteen shown to  be alive.
As I followed the story,  I realized that it portrayed a parable of our spiritual earthly life.

Adam and Eve knew God's warning, but they chose to listen to a contrary voice and their fall caused a tsunami of sin that blocked man's relationship with God.  The people of the world sat in darkness, on an earthly shelf that allowed a measure of protection, but they longed to be rescued, to be taken out of the darkness.

I can hardly imagine the boys relief and joy when they realized that FINALLY they had been found - their fading hope now a reality.  When they saw the light of their rescuers, it must have been the most welcome sight !
So too, finally, when hope was dim,  our Saviour came , and the Light shone in the darkness of this world.

   “The people who sat in darkness saw a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”  

Joy unspeakable filled the hearts of God's people.  The world was watching and the news of the miracle spread quickly.

Though there was great rejoicing that the boys were found, their situation was still a dangerous one - they were still trapped in the cave.
So also we - even though we are found, even though we are saved  - we are still trapped in our earth-cave and we are oft confronted with danger and persecution and trials.
We will have to wait until, finally, death opens the tunnel that will allow us to escape this earth  - and into the heavenly life we look forward to.

But consider ...   once the boys were found, though they were still in the cave,  everything changed. Light shone in the darkness - they could SEE !   Doctors came  to evaluate their medical needs, food was brought in to restore their strength and renew their starving bodies. Blankets were brought in to warm them.  They were no longer alone, whatever they needed was brought to them and they were able to communicate with those from the outside.
So also with us.  Though Jesus came to set us free, we remain here on earth.
But everything has changed.  We are no longer alone, Jesus has promised to never leave us or forsake us Everything we need He will provide.  We no longer sit in darkness - we can SEE !
We are being watched by those outside the kingdom … “a cloud of witnesses”  who are cheering us on.  Our relationship with God is restored and we can communicate with Him in loving relationship.

The boys needed to learn new skills -- otherwise they would not be able to be brought out. They needed to learn to swim and scuba dive and mentally prepare so they would not panic when they became disoriented in murky water. They needed to become familiar with the equipment that they needed to wear.  They needed to trust their guides.
We too need to learn new skills if we are to persevere through the challenges of this earthly life.
We must learn to renew our mind, to embrace a  new way of living.
We need to learn to follow, even  in difficult life situations where we cannot see through the murky doubts that assail us.  .
We need to learn to trust even when we are afraid.
We need to put on the armor of God so that we will be equipped and be found strong  when death opens the tunnel,  ready for Jesus to lift us from this earthly life into His glorious Presence, where there is no pain or suffering or death  - but joy and pleasure for ever and ever !

There is a Time - When

A comment from a friend prompted me to take another look at the oft quoted passage in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8  - the familiar list of  "There is a time to....'.

If you are like me, you have always thought of this list as a list of things that all have a proper place in our lives - a list of things God made on how to do life. Not unlike me making a list of household duties needed to be completed to have a clean, orderly home.

Perhaps we have only skimmed the surface in this passage - maybe there is more to it to understand and glean from it.

First, we note that this list is limited to things done  'under heaven' .
In Ecclesiastes the phrase 'under the sun' appears 27 times - always the reference is to earthly things. 'Under heaven' or 'under the sun'  point out that what is stated pertains only to this earthly life.
It is not a list that has anything 'eternal' about it. 

That this list in Ecc. 3 is prefaced by 'under heaven' we immediately know that this is not a list that God laid out as something that He decreed. 

But .. you might say ... it says "there is a time, a season" for each of the things in the list. Yes, true, but I looked at the Hebrew word translated 'time' and I saw something that added a new stroke of meaning. 
A big of trivia here to clarify.
Hebrew is a very efficient language in that it can say a great deal using a limited number of words. You need learn only 641 Hebrew words to recognize 80% of the  Hebrew vocabulary - unique words- contained in the Old Testamenttotal number of unique words  contained in the Old Testament.-  according to Rev. Dr. Walter Maier III, Professor of Hebrew at Concordia Theological Seminary, are 8,679 words)
To  understand 75% of conversational English you need 1000 words. 

The total number of unique words used in the Old Testament are 8,679 compared to 31,534 different words used by Shakespeare in his plays.

While fewer words means it is an easier language to learn, it also means that it is at times difficult to translate because each Hebrew word has multiple meanings determined by context or other grammatical details we don't have in English.

So ...  back to our word 'time'.  In English the meaning is straightforward,  but the Hebrew word can also be used to denote 'when' . 
This same Hebrew word used here in our passage is translated as 'when' in passages such as found in Judges 21:20 - "And it shall be, WHEN their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain.."
So maybe the first verse could be read this .... "Everything on this earth happens at a time or season, but not without a purpose ..." 
Then let's link this verse with the one in Romans 8:28 that says, "and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God..."


 Is God here saying that nothing that happens is outside of His knowing ? 
That He is aware of every good and bad thing that can and does come into our life, but He has already gone before?
Is this God's list for everything He is able and willing  to work together for good if we who love Him but put our trust in Him,  knowing He has a 'good end-purpose' for everything that happens in this earthly life?





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