Scripture:
#1 Leviticus 19:9 "Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vinyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God."
OAP: Lots of thoughts tonight...many of them not soap related, but i'll get to that.
Leviticus 19:14 "You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the Lord."
OAP: Lots of thoughts tonight...many of them not soap related, but i'll get to that.
#1 I'm not very good at growing things. One time my parents got me this banana tree from biosphere 2 in Arizona. It came in a little test tube. I thought it would be so cool to grow a tree and have my own bananas. How enterprising :) Well, it turns out, as soon as I took it out of the test tube and into a pot, it died...same thing happened with the Bonzai tree I got for my birthday last year...dead in a month.
Basically, growing things for me is hard. If I were to grow something, I wonder if I would want to share it so freely. It makes me think about my work. I put in long hours, it stresses me out, I feel little gratitude. Then I get my paycheck, the "harvest" for my labor, and I'm supposed to leave some behind? But didn't I earn it? Doesn't my earning it give me the right to distribute as I see fit? Give to MY church, support THAT missionary...not some random stranger, let alone the homeless and poor...OUCH...This passage has revealed a gaping wound in my character. My veiled generosity when I give to those things I see as "deserving", when the money isn't really mine in the first place.
God, thank you for this reminder that my money is not my own. Any pride i take in my charity is completely misplaced. Soften my heart and open my eyes to the "leave behind" opportunities.
#2 This one, a little less serious. I actually started thinking about the quote at the top of this page "what if a mute person had no hands..." I felt a half second of guilt...Then I started visualizing the comical aspect of this verse...making fun of/putting down someone that can't hear. Or putting stuff in front of a blind person, mocking there shortcomings. I think of practical jokes, "Jack Ass", mental games we play, how we speak of people behind their backs...I started to chuckle a little bit at how our society has glamorized this kind of thing.
But it's not just blatant things like mocking the disabled...this verse encompasses talking over someone like you're smarter. It's talking about excluding someone because they "just don't get it" or they don't fit in. Then God says instead "REVERE ME". I had to look up revere...it means to fear, at least the hebrew word also means fear. Talk about a paradigm shift from getting a laugh and making yourself feel good to focusing on Big Brother looking over your shoulder.
We can do things pretty flippantly without considering God's anger, frustration, even pain over us ridiculing one of His creation that He loves.
#3 Now comes the random stuff:
-The code ecru blog is cool. You can tell it was developed by women because the name means something, while ours is a total guy poop joke. Also, their blogs are like twice as long, but also very meaningful and thought provoking.
-I'm taking pride in my connection group. I think they are awesome because they are asking lots of questions and struggling with what it means to be a follower of Jesus. I think we're all enrolled in Bible Mystery School (even though that isn't what Ian said). And we're all extracting the bottomless truth from this ancient, living book. Some of us are even enrolled in independent study...
-I hope this blog doesn't stop after SSBB comes out.
Jesus, I thank you for all that you are revealing to me these days. Through Your community, Your Word, and my daily challenges. I am tasting the abundant life...my life feels full, and it is because of You. Thanks for this blessing.
2 comments:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this blog nate, even though it means no automatic super smash party for the rest of the group.
I kill plants too and used to worry I wouldn't be able to raise kids...luckily kids say "I'm hungry" when they are hungry.
You have done a good job with these boys (even though poop humor is still funny - isn't that true of guys until they day they die?). You have helped "grow" them into men of God. You should remember that you leave your time for them to collect.
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