Still having good days and bad
days; today is the latter.
Teresa came over this morning
and installed a new faucet for our sink.
The other was just giving it up – Josh and Deed fixed it and it was
working fine, but it was just getting too old to continue repairing it.
As she worked I realize, again,
how fortunate we have been to have our children helping us around the
place. She and Ian have done a lot to
assist, in the garden, helping dig, etc.
Deed rewired the place; Deed and
Josh have done a tremendous amount of work around here, laying concrete, digging
trenches, spearheading Carla’s shed.
We knew Josh was a keeper as he
worked four different grills with four different meats via a flash light for my
Father of the groom dinner.
Steven, before he moved to
Kirkland, helped a great deal and still helps with Celinda, when they come
down.
Ken, who lives so far away, has
brought Rose and William with him to help on a couple of projects; Wendy has
always given good advice and she too is a treasure.
I cannot begin to enumerate all
they have done for us.
Usually it is ‘dad’ that helps
the kids – it has been the other way around here. My father was very mechanically inclined,
there wasn’t much that he couldn’t figure out and do; his genes, dealing with
those skills, has completely skipped me, but my kids have them. Those genes coupled with Carla’s father’s
genes have done them in good stead.
We are fortunate that they are
willing to give of their time to share them.
1 Corinthians
10:11-13 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are
written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are
come.
12 Wherefore let him that
thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
13 There hath no temptation
taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer
you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make
a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear
it.
Not reading the Bible and trying
to obey God’s Word, is like going on a trip in an area you are not familiar with
and not taking a map. We have an idea of
where we are going, and we may not get to our destination.
God has given us that road map
for our lives. He has plotted out the
areas that are hazardous and the areas that will give us great pleasure and
joy.
The Old Testament is filled with
the trials and tribulations of the Hebrews as they lived and worshiped Him – and
then turned their back on Him. The New
Testaments give us assurances that God’s Word is true and gives us further
examples of how we should live – not to mention the salvation we have through
Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection.
There are examples of sins
committed by the Hebrews and others - and the consequences and punishments. There are examples of the Hebrews success and
rewards; as they lived for and/or came back to God.
I can remember one sermon where
the minister hit on a certain sin and the consequences. Frankly that had been a problem for me
through the years – but as I sat there listening, I thought, I got that one
licked. Within a week or so, I was
guilty of that same sin all over again.
We can never let down and think
we have it taken care of, the minute that happens, satan starts finding a way to
maneuver us into sinning once again. And
he must clap his hands with glee and laugh loudly when we fall.
We have been warned by God’s
Word that there is a punishment and a reward for our behaviors. He also tells us that while He will allow us
to be tempted, He will also show us a plan to escape that sin – it is up to us
to make the decision to sin or not.
Living for Christ is just that,
living. It is an active process, it is
not passive. We must continually strive
to grow in Him and serve Him to the best of our abilities.
As in any profession, the more
we practice, the more we study, the more we are aware of better techniques and,
when we use them, the more efficient we become.
An apprentice is not expected to know every aspect of the job, he
studies, learns, is mentored and finally becomes a Journeyman.
God doesn’t give us the whole
load at one time; He parcels it out in terms and directions we understand. A first grader is not expected to be able to
read at a high school level. He learns
how to read at the lowest level; he reads more, he builds his vocabulary, he has
more experiences he can apply to what he is reading and therefore learns at a
higher level.
God does the same for us. What we have to be careful of is reading at a
first grade level when we reach high school – and far too many Christians fall
into that category. We don’t read His
Word enough; we do not study it enough so we only have what people tell
us is in His Word but don’t have a good understanding of what He wants.
Getting back to finding our way
in life, the Bible has a detailed map for us – however, we all too frequently
use the Bible as some use a globe where there is no detail, just a general idea
of what is there.
So, let us get out the map for
our life’s journey every day and figure out the direction God wants us to go as
we travel the road to Glory.
Later, Art :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment