Memorial Day: Day 3 for Thursday, 24 May 2018 - goTandem
You don't name beef cows. They aren't pets. And there's a reason that you don't name animals you plan to eat. Naming gives power. Naming gives significance. That, and it's really hard to eat a hamburger formerly named Gladys. And if you look in the Old Testament, giving something a name was a really big deal.
People's names were supposed to say something about the person that they were to become. And naming a place was intended to let you know something about the journey God had brought them on. For instance, Marah (which means bitter) in Exodus 15 was a place where God made bitter water taste clean and sweet. Or in Exodus 17 after a battle with the Amalekites Moses named an altar "The Lord is My Banner."
These are milestones along the route of Israelites. These names are intended as lasting reminders for future generations to look back and understand God's faithfulness. Sometimes it was an upright rock. Sometimes it was an altar. Sometimes they just named the land, but it was always for a reason. To remember that God had been active in the history of the Israelites and would continue to be going forward.
I think it's a shame we don't practice this today. How beautiful would it be to ask someone's spiritual rock garden and be able to literally walk by all of the times God had reached down and guided their lives. Now, granted, not all of us own the real estate we live on and so the logistics could get kind of tricky, so what if we started writing it down? What if we started a journal going back through our lives with the purpose of remembering the great things God has done for us. The times that He's provided for us, comforted us, directed us, and corrected us. If we really think hard on it, I bet we'd quickly see that God's hand has always been with us, even if we haven't been looking. And maybe, just maybe, when life starts getting tough, we could go back to this journal, sift through it, and remember that even when circumstances seem especially grim, God is still there. He hasn't left. And He never will.
Stay with us, because tomorrow we'll learn a little bit about our heroes of the faith.
The Holy Holidays - goTandem
"Spirit Speaks" for Thursday, 24 May 2018 - gotandem"The Spirit of the LORD speaks through me;
his words are upon my tongue." (2 Samuel 23:2)
What is astounding about this verse?
Have you ever felt that God was speaking through you? When?
***
his words are upon my tongue." (2 Samuel 23:2)
What is astounding about this verse?
Have you ever felt that God was speaking through you? When?
No comments:
Post a Comment