Jennifer and I had walked up to get the mail at the mailbox recently and were coming back down our road when she stopped to pick up a rock. Rock collection must be in the blood because her grandmother can’t pass up an interesting rock either. 😁 I must admit it was a cool rock, hiding there in the midst of the rest of the gravel on the road, with curving layers and sharp edges left after having been crushed to the appropriate gravel size.

I couldn’t help thinking about the series of events which brought that rock to being in Jennifer’s hand. Likely, the rock was formed after Noah’s flood as the waters receded from the landscape, creating layers. This is the most likely explanation for the layers since the gravel was quarried just north of us near the Bourbeuse River. Earthquakes and weathering could also have played a roll in its shaping over the centuries. But at some point, it was quarried and scooped into the rock crusher. After undergoing at least one round of crushing, it was sorted and perhaps placed on the conveyor belt to undergo a more substantial crushing, until it reached the desired size. And then, a period of waiting began - waiting for a call from a customer who specifically wanted one-inch clean gravel to be delivered.

Here’s where it gets interesting! It could have been gravel used in the construction of the new Farmers and Merchants Bank in St. Clair. In that case, it would become part of the foundation under the building (a noble calling) or under the parking lot (an important, but less auspicious calling). It could have been used in any number of ways. But that particular rock ended up in our driveway. Now it’s been on our road for a year or so. It’s been driven over countless times. I’ve walked that section of road at least once daily. But it wasn’t until that particular day that it caught Jennifer’s eye and she picked it up.

As we walked on down the road, I was thinking about our development as the people of God. We are called living stones, being built into a spiritual house:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5, ESV)

We are the temple of the Living God. (2 Corinthians 6:16)

Isn’t it interesting that the stones for the physical temple were not cut and shaped at the temple site. Rather they were shaped at the quarry.

In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built. (1 Kings 6:7, NIV)

Much like Jennifer’s rock, we are shaped into who we will be in God’s kingdom long before we ever arrive at the building site. That shaping requires some crushing, maybe some heat and pressure. It involves time. And waiting.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.  (1 John 3:2, ESV)
We know we are being formed (quarried and crushed, if you will) into the image of our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 2:11; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18) How appropriate that is!! He is the Rock of our salvation (Psalm 95:1) and spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4, ESV).

God is preparing a place for us, shaping us into the image of His Son, that we may not only be servants of Almighty God but also be adopted into His family.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9, ESV).

 . . . He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:4-6, ESV).

What an unbelievable future for an insignificant rock that started out as so much raw material in God’s creation! Just as Jennifer picked up that rock in the middle of the road, God chose us. That’s what both 1 Peter 2:9 and Ephesians 1:4 (along with a myriad of other verses) say! We were chosen by God, for His purposes.

All of the crushing and shaping, the pressure and waiting, it’s all in God’s hand. Simply put, He’s sovereign.

Jennifer cleaned that rock (an insignificant piece of gravel), wrapped it with wire, covered it with resin, and made a necklace for me to wear. I can’t help but think it’s an appropriate Ebenezer for what we’ve all just come through these past three months.

As I was washing my wash basins yesterday, I thought about how I use them. First and foremost, they were purchased as wash basins for the Passover service. Whenever I think about using them for another purpose, I always ask myself if I can get them clean enough to use for the foot washing service, i.e. I’d never use them to change oil in the van. But here I was washing them to get them ready to put away again after the recent frost. They were actually too small to use to cover my plants, but they replaced the buckets that I did use to protect my little garden seedlings. I used one to hold the water for the dogs. I used two to hold dog food. I used one to bring in kindling to get the fire started. The only other time I use the wash basins, at least to this point, is when I need to carry in stuff from the garden, the harvest of tomatoes or peppers or cucumbers.

So, I was musing, these wash basins all point me back to God in some fashion: 1) foot washing: Jesus told Peter that if He didn’t wash his feet, he would have no part with Him. I definitely want fellowship with Jesus. So I annually participate in the footwashing ceremony associated with Passover;

2) dog water: John 7:37 says that if we go to Jesus and have fellowship with Him, out of our bellies will flow living water, which John understood to be the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I want to belong to God and to be used by Him (indwelling of the Holy Spirit) to accomplish His will;

3) dog food: Jesus told Satan that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is the Bread of life. And the bread broken during the Passover service symbolizes the broken body of Jesus, bruised for our transgression, wounded for our iniquities. I want to partake of that Bread. I want to have Jesus in me, in every aspect of my life, even to eternal life in His kingdom.

4) harvest: We can work all we want, planting, watering, building a house, but if God isn’t in it, it will not succeed. God gives the increase. I want to be found in Christ. I want God to establish the works of my hands because they glorify and honor Him, pointing people back to Him.

It was a simple thing, really. I was just washing basins, cleaning them up to put them away. It actually turned into a profound thought that, if we belong to God, all of our life is connected to Him and it all comes back to Jesus.

We had a freeze Friday night. Accuweather says that locally it was 28º. That’s not good news for my lilacs, my blooming blueberry bushes, cherry trees, or apple tree. It’s not good for the broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower seedlings already planted in the garden. We were busy scrambling Friday evening to get what we could covered up and protected.

I was very glad I’d waited to plant my more temperature-sensitive tomatoes seedlings in the garden. But I had been tempted. After all, since March 26th (New Year’s Day, by God’s calendar), we had had one day with temperatures in the 90ºs, three days in the 80ºs, three days in the 70ºs, nine days in the 60ºs, six days in the 50ºs, and only two days in the 40ºs. That doesn’t sound too bad. But it was the lows which tell the real story: two days with lows in the 60ºs, three days with lows in the 50ºs, six in the 40ºs, twelve in the 30ºs and Friday night’s temperature of 28º. And that last week before we hit 28º, the lows were all in the 30ºs.

It just wasn’t prudent to overlook the average last frost date of April 20th in Missouri.

Oh, but it’s hard. The weather had been so nice. The trees are blooming. It looks like a nice spring after a cold, rainy winter compounded with COVID-19. Who wouldn’t want to take a chance, get outside and get their fingers in the dirt? Let’s do something positive. Let’s do something productive and hopeful.

I read an article about liminality recently. The author wrote, “A liminal moment is one that is in between, neither ‘back there where we were’ nor ‘up there where we will be’.” And that’s kind of where we found ourselves the past three weeks in terms of gardening. It wasn’t quite winter still, but it wasn’t spring yet.

I couldn’t help thinking about liminality and that the freeze Friday night is a harbinger of what could happen if people decide the main threat of COVID-19 is over and jump right back into life as usual. I guess the thinking is: 1) I’m not sick; 2) no one around me is sick; 3) the numbers are going down; 4) I don’t live in New York, so let’s get back to work.

It’s tempting. People are tired of the stress and strain of not knowing how long this is going to last. They’re tired of the inconvenience. They’re tired of being told to restrain themselves. They’re listening to the pied piper of social media, which says, “The government is trying to take away your freedom. We’ve become a socialist state. Are you so stupid you can’t see what is happening? Don’t let them take away your freedom.” So then we’re going to become lawless in order to regain our freedom? That’s not liberty. That’s anarchy.

Think about it. If the weather man tells you that we have a bad ice storm coming and you might want to stay off the roads, do you tell him he can’t tell you what to do and intentionally go shopping? If the national hurricane prediction center tells you that a Cat 5 hurricane has you in its bulls-eye, do you take precautions, board up your windows, hunker down to ride out the storm? Do you evacuate when they tell you to? Or do you stay in your house and end up having to be rescued off your roof, putting others at risk when they have to mount a rescue effort? When there’s an avalanche warning posted, do you stay out of that area? Or do you tell the officials they can’t tell where you can and can’t go? They don’t have the right to take away your freedom to ski any trail you wish? What about a road out ahead? Should the government warn its populace that the bridge is out?  Warning is okay, but stopping people from driving that road that they paid for with their taxes is not?

It’s easy to sit at home and second guess our officials, criticizing their decisions. But if you don’t like what they’re doing, respond in a lawful manner. Send a letter to the governor’s office. Make a phone call to your representative. Better yet, put the time and effort into researching the candidates and vote in the person you trust will represent your interests. And if you can’t trust any of them, then put your own name in the hat. If you don’t like the job they’re doing and you think you can do better, then go to it. But if you don’t like what our elected officials are deciding right now and you didn’t vote in the last election, then you have no room to complain.

In the end, God is still sovereign. He’s still on the throne. None of this has caught Him off guard. We still exist for and by his pleasure. Perhaps God is using this to test us, to see what’s in our hearts, to see if we’ll continue to keep His commandments (Deuteronomy 8:2; Deuteronomy 8:16; Judges 2:22; Judges 3:4). We know that we have been abundantly blessed!! So are we serving God with joy and gladness for the abundance of all things (Deuteronomy 28:47)? Or are we complaining (1 Corinthians 10:10)? We know that we are to pray for our leaders and obey their edicts as long as they are not in direct opposition to God’s laws ( 1 Timothy 2:1-2; 1 Peter 2:17; Romans 13:1; Jeremiah 29:7; Acts 5:29; Exodus 1:17; Daniel 6:13; Acts 4:19).

Maybe we haven’t learned the most basic of lessons yet. Perhaps God is teaching us that He is God and we are not. Perhaps we just need to be still. Wait. Seek God. Keep your eyes fixed on Him.

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10

As the author of the liminality article wrote, “Liminal periods are a time of growth. We stand on the threshold between our old lives and our new lives, neither here nor there, the status quo impossible to reach, with more questions than answers.” (Homeschool Mom Newsletter, April 2020, Vol. 2)

We don’t have all the answers. But we know the One who does. Now would be a great time to be seeking Him for answers.

The latest film by Timothy Mahoney, Patterns of Evidence: Red Sea Crossing, Part 1, contrasts the two prevailing views concerning the exodus of Egypt by the Israelites. The Egyptian view postulates that there were probably only about 20,000 Hebrews who wandered about 12 miles before Pharaoh’s army caught up with them at the Sea of Reeds at the border of Egypt. The Hebrew position affirms that two million Hebrews traveled across the Sinai Peninsula before crossing the Red Sea into what is now Saudi Arabia.

The Egyptian stance says that there’s no way 2 million people, with all of their animals, could have been organized to cross a 150-200 mile stretch of desert in a matter of days. The food and water needs for that many people and all their animals would have been immense.

The Hebrew view maintains that the Bible states that God provided water (Psalm 68:7-10) and God provided food. God prepared Moses to lead the people - what was he doing in Egypt for the first third of his life?! And if it was only 20,000 Hebrews, why were the Egyptians afraid of them? (Ex 1:10-12) Why were the nations who heard of the events afraid of the Israelites? (Josh 2:9)

The Egyptian position states that it’s much more likely that a natural phenomenon, like wind, would have blown a path through the relatively shallow ancient Sea of Reeds and provided a way for the Israelites to cross. Anything deeper would have required a very heavy wind - too strong to stand up in.

The Hebrew view states that God is more than able to open a path through the Red Sea and to miraculously prepare a place for the Israelites to walk across dry-shod. Furthermore, it’s much more likely that all of Pharaoh’s army would be drowned in a deep sea rather than in a shallow lake, like the Sea of Reeds.

Remarkable, indeed, is the contrast between the Egyptian position and the Hebrew position. The Egyptian view looks for something easily explainable. The Hebrew stand affirms the miraculous power required by Almighty God to bring His people out of Egypt.

Looking out over the expanse of the Red Sea (specifically the Gulf of Aqaba) and knowing that at its deepest point it’s 6070 feet deep, it is inconceivable that a strong wind could have possibly parted that huge amount of water and dried out the sea bed overnight -  unless it was a miracle of God.

But our God is in the business of miracles. And He had just shown the land of Egypt ten of them! Why not continued miracles - like providing food, water, and deliverance for a 150-mile desert crossing for over two million people and their animals? Does it take a mighty hand to accomplish the Egyptian position? No, but the Hebrew view definitely fits the Biblical description in Deuteronomy 26:8: And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders.

The visual panorama at the edge of the Red Sea emphasizes the incredible power and majesty of our Great God and the lengths to which He went in redeeming His people.

Let’s replace the subject of the preceding sentence. We know that God bringing the Israelites out of Egypt is a type of bringing each of us out of slavery to sin. So let’s state it this way: The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ emphasizes the incredible power and majesty of our Great God and the lengths to which He went in redeeming His people.

Sometimes I think we become so used to thinking of Jesus as our Savior that we lose some of our awe. We forget that there is no other religion whose God is willing to die for His people. We become hardened to the phenomenal price paid on our behalf by our Savior.

So, in my mind’s eye, I stand on the edge of a shallow Sea of Reeds. Then I stand on the edge of a mammoth Gulf of Aqaba. Which of these two is a fitting type for what our Great God has done to redeem us from slavery to sin, to   pay our penalty of death, to reconcile us to the Father?

We’re just a month from the New Year, six weeks from Passover. We’re in the preparation month for God’s spring holy days. I know I will take some time to contemplate the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea. I will thank God for the powerful visual object lesson He provided. And I will revel in the majesty and love of my God, who with His mighty hand and outstretched arm, redeemed me to Himself, to be part of the Bride of Christ.

My labs are now twelve years old. They both have torn ACLs, which don’t seem to cause them any pain. It just makes them slower. They both have noticeable cataracts, especially Velvet who runs into things now quite frequently. But in this season of their lives, an amazing thing has happened. Their primary focus is no longer the squirrels to chase or the smells to investigate. They just want to be near me. That means when I go outside and call them, they come. Long gone are the days when they would lift their head to see if what I wanted was more important than what they’re doing. Gone are the days when they would disappear for a couple of hours, exploring who knows where. These days they poke around the barn and the trees close to the house, and then they take up their watchful positions on the front porch, content to be together.

This is not what I would really want for them. I miss those days when I could let them out and in 5 seconds they’d be out of sight. I miss the days when they were young and spry and full of youthful enthusiasm. But God is using them to teach me something again.

I can’t help but think about the young person who knows that perhaps they’re not making the best choice, that it’s not really the direction God would have them to go. But much like my younger labs, I was willing to postpone what was pleasing to God in lieu of chasing the equivalent of squirrels, my own idea of fun in those days. But as I get older and experience more problems and trouble, I find myself desiring just to be with God, in His word, thinking about His ways and what pleases Him.

I like Dan White’s article from December 2017 because it’s another analogy to express the same thing. We too often spend our time looking down, looking at our world, our agenda, our squirrels to chase. What we really need to do is to look up, focus on what pleases God, and seek to follow His direction for our lives, regardless of the troubles and sorrows.

This world is not our home. And we can’t live like it is. We can’t spend our time acting as if this is all there is., as if this were the goal. We are given this time, as a gift from God, to become His Bride, to be prepared for what comes next, and to share His light with the people around us. We can’t get so distracted by this life, with its pain and trouble, that our light grows dim. Or as Kent Hovind used to say, You can’t be “so earthly minded that you’re no heavenly good.”

Or perhaps you want it expressed in song:

Lift up your head. Redemption draweth nigh.

To the hills I’ll lift my eyes. Ah from whence shall come my help. My help comes from the LORD, maker of heaven and earth.

The turning of the calendar from 2019 to 2020 is not God’s calendar. But it is still another marker in the passage of time. It’s also a really good opportunity to evaluate where we are, where we’re going, and take some necessary steps to refocus our eyes on the Master. God can use all of what we’re experiencing in our education as disciples, in our purification as the Bride of Christ, in our sanctification as the people of God.

When the labs were  young, I would open the front door and they’d vault off the front porch and be out of sight at the edge of the field in seconds flat. The problem always was that they wouldn’t come when I called them. Oh, they heard me. They’d lift their heads from whatever delicious scent they were investigating and look at me, but they had determined that whatever treat I had for them would in no way measure up to the fun they were going to have together. It only took a couple of times of having to track them down, tramping through fields and driving up and down roads before we knew we couldn’t just let them run. They always came back - eventually. But we didn’t know how far they were going, what they were chasing, and how much trouble they could get themselves into.

Here we are eleven years later and things have changed. Ebony has a torn ACL and although she walks pretty well, and even scampers after the chipmunk who likes to live dangerously next to our house, her hind legs don’t work so well anymore and she wears out quickly. Velvet still does a pretty good job of getting around, but the cataracts clouding her eyes are so bad she can’t see the dog treat you put in front of her nose. She always recoils when you touch her nose with it.

The past few days, Ebony has been reluctant to go for our morning walk. She’s happy about it once she’s outside and walking, but convincing her to get out of bed has not been easy. Once outside, I put Velvet on the leash and walk them over the dam. Of course, being labs, they both pile into the water, drinking as they walk, choking and coughing on water bugs, and trying to shake while still shoulder high in the pond. Yesterday, that’s the point at which I took the leash off Velvet. Neither of them made any indication that a mad dash into the woods was imminent. They investigated smells and calmly accompanied me around the pond and back up to the house.

So this morning, I didn’t even put the leash on Velvet. I just told her it was time to go for a walk, enticed Ebony out of her bed, and started off towards the pond. Velvet came when I called her, instead of going to see what Ebony had found. They both went for their morning swim. They both followed me back up to the house.

It’s a bittersweet experience. They are very compliant and lovable. They no longer chew on the porch rails. They don’t bark all through the night. But I know it’s because they’re rapidly approaching the end of their lives; it’s not because that’s what they’d do if they had the vim and vigor of youth.

So what about us? As we grow older, I’d like to think that we heed the Master’s call with ever increasing alacrity - because of the relationship we have with our Great God, not just because we don’t have the vim and vigor of youth.

There are a couple of very interesting verses in Psalm 119 which caught my attention recently:  
         Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (vs. 67)
    It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. (vs 71)

Is that what it takes - old age, trouble, affliction, problems, disaster - before we see the value of God’s ways and our absolute need for Him? Do we have to be knocked down and bruised before we seek God first? Do we have to try things our way and get into all kinds of heartache before we do it the way God said to from the very beginning?  

I kind of wonder if this is where Solomon ended up at the end of his life, in order for him to have penned these words:
 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them. Ecclesiastes 12:1  

Oh that we would seek God with all of our hearts now because He is good and worthy and He loves us so very much!! I don’t want to wait for the evil days to come before I turn to God with all of my heart. I don’t want to fall victim to the trap of being content with where I am so that I neglect my relationship with God because I fail to see how very much I need Him (Deuteronomy 8:11-20). I owe Him everything, even my very life. What could be more important than heeding His leading every day of my life?  

I’m already sad, knowing that my labs’ days are numbered. But really, all of our days are numbered before even one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). Perhaps I need to be more intentional about living my life for God’s glory with whatever days still remain.

Pepper was quite sure I’d lost my mind earlier this week. I was pulling weeds in the corn even though the sky looked like it could open up and pour at any moment. Pepper accompanied me to the garden, as usual, and took up his normal watchful position nearby. Occasionally, something would catch his attention and he’d go investigate, but he kept a pretty close eye on me while I was working.

When it started to sprinkle, he came to me, tail down, ears tucked, head ducked. His actions couldn’t have told me any more plainly, “Hey! It’s raining! Do you think we ought to go inside?” I petted him, told him he was a good dog, and then told him to go away. He walked over, lay down, and continued his vigil.

Soon the rain stopped. He watched me for a while. He investigated interesting things. And then it started blowing and sprinkling again. Again, he came to let me know it was raining and maybe we should do something. I told him he was a nice dog and told him to go away.

The third time, he brought Ebony with him. She was like, “Hey, it’s raining out here. Can we go inside yet?” I told her she was a nice dog. I told Pepper he was a nice dog, but they needed to let me work for a few more minutes.

Pretty soon it was really raining. But I was so close to having my row weeded. I just wanted to finish. I wasn’t a bit surprised when Pepper came to get me. He loyally believes it is his job to keep watch while I’m in the garden, no matter what the weather is doing. (Ebony had long since gone to the porch.) But enough was enough. He stood right in front of me and made me look him in the eye. Then he started licking my arm - you know how he tries to dry himself off after he’s gone into the pond or after a bath. He must have thought I was just not thinking clearly because obviously I was getting WET! He was doing everything he could to provide me with the intelligence that I obviously was missing. How in the world I could possibly miss the rain, he couldn’t figure out, but he was determined to let me know that IT WAS RAINING and it was time to go inside.

Do you think we ever do that to God?

Do you think we ever think that God just doesn’t know what’s going on in our lives? That He must be so preoccupied that He’s just unaware of what is such a huge problem to us? We just need to let Him know so that He will do what we think needs to be done?

We wouldn’t ever do that, would we?

It seems so silly to put in those words, but that’s what our actions say. We worry. We get upset about the events in our lives. We even begin to doubt whether He still loves us.

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. . . . 1 John 4:16

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.   1 John 4:9

But God’s love doesn’t begin and end with the huge gift of His Son. Paul says: He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32

We can’t doubt that God loves us. And we can’t doubt that He wants us to bring our needs to Him.  

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

It would be ridiculous to think that the Creator of the universe wasn’t powerful enough to be in control of everything. Nothing is impossible with God!  So after we struggle with doubts and fears, we come back to the foundational knowledge that He is God and we are not.

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. 2But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.  Psalm 131:1-2

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:8

 And I have to trust Him - because that’s my part of the covenant as His child.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. 4Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:3-4

I’m going to experience some rain in my life, and undoubtedly some downpours which upset me. I have to believe that God knows about the storms. He knows what I’m enduring. I need to trust Him. I need to remember to pray like Jehoshaphat did, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” (2 Chron. 20:12) And if He determines that I need to ride out the storm, I rest in His promise that He will never leave me nor forsake me. (Hebrews 13:5)

If I asked you what action verb is associated with the three holy day seasons, what would you say?  For the Days of Unleavened Bread, we are to eat unleavened bread for seven days. It’s not about getting leaven out - that should already have been done before the holy days start! It’s about taking in of Jesus Christ, eating the unleavened bread which represents living our lives God’s way, subsisting on His word, seeking Life because that’s what truly sustains us. Eating should be the obvious verb to focus on - it’s inherent in the name of the Feast.

For the Feast of Tabernacles, the action verb is again in the name: we are to dwell in temporary dwellings, tents, tabernacles, for seven days. It reminds us that it is God who brought us out of slavery to sin. He is our Redeemer and Savior. Furthermore, we’re not to get too comfortable in this world. Don’t get too settled because, if we’ve been redeemed and we belong to God, then this world is not our home. We’re looking for God’s kingdom. We’re aliens and strangers in this land. We want to dwell in Christ. We want to walk in His ways. We want to be found in Him always.

So what about the Feast of Weeks? Pentecost? Again the verb is in the name. We are to count. And as we count for seven complete weeks - during the spring harvest - we should again see Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him. It is in
participating in God’s holy days that we learn more about Him and who we are in Christ.

So what did you learn as you have been counting these past few weeks?

It’s really to get busy with the harvest, or life, or stuff, and neglect to count every day. Quick! Without counting on your fingers from last sabbath, what day of the count is it?

The days can pass by very quickly. Suddenly you’re at Pentecost and you find yourself wondering where all the days went! If you didn’t make a conscious effort to number the days, they are gone in the blink of an eye! And so isn’t it the same way with our lives. If we don’t make a conscious effort to make each day count, to intentionally choose those things which draw us closer to God, our days can slip by like sand through our fingers - and we have nothing to show for it.

The harvest is hard. Just as the plants have to be weeded, watered, and cared for - if you want a good harvest - we need to be diligent in our own lives. We need to weed out the habits and choices which are choking out our fruitfulness to God. We need to water our relationship with God with prayer, Bible study, meditation, fellowship with like believers. We need to intentionally care for our pursuit of holiness. Otherwise, we will have missed the opportunity to be fruitful for our God.

Just because the days are hard or discouraging or exhausting, we can’t give up. We have a goal in mind, in sight! As Winston Churchill adjured: Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Or as the seven churches of Revelation were similarly adjured: to him who overcomes . . . We overcome obstacles. We don’t doubt God’s goodness. We don’t rely on our own strength. We don’t expect life to be too easy. We are in preparation for service in God’s kingdom and we must persevere regardless of the obstacles and difficulties before us.

God expects you to rest. Even in the midst of the harvest, even when you have more things to do than you can shake a stick at, God expects you to observe the Sabbath. It is a gift to you from your Heavenly Father - to rest physically from your labor, to remember to rest in Him for your strength, to be exhorted and encouraged by your church family. The sabbath is not optional. It is not a lesser commandment. It is one of God’s Ten Commandments. And God expects you to love this gift that He has created for you each week.

Life rarely goes as planned. When you’re in the midst of the harvest, one of the busiest seasons of the year, it sometimes feels like you have more to do than can possibly get done. And! You may plan to do one thing, but, as you begin, you find two things
that have to be done first. It’s easy to get frustrated and try to work faster. That doesn’t usually work well. Remember Ziggy? My American lit teacher in high school had a poster of Ziggy that said, “The faster I go the behinder I get.” Just keep calm and carry on. The unplanned detours of life are not a surprise to God. So put your trust in Him and do the next thing.

Never forget the value of a well-timed word and an expression of gratitude. When life gets busy and we get frazzled, we tend to focus on the next thing we need to do, sometimes forgetting that everyone else is experiencing a similar state of frazzled-ness. AT&T’s slogan is very important: reach out and touch someone. Let the people around you know how much you appreciate them - not just their efforts - but them, as fellow travelers in the Way. We could all take a page from Barnabas’ play book and be a son of encouragement to those around us. It can make a huge difference.

We have just a few days left before the Day of Pentecost will have fully come. I hope you’re counting. I hope you’re evaluating how you live each day to the glory of our Great God. I hope you have fruit to harvest for Him. I wonder what you’ve been learning. Wanna share?

Time is such a funny thing.

If you’re like me, you remember people as you last saw them. Even if it’s been six years, you somehow are shocked at how much the child has grown into a young adult!

You can plant seeds right after you till the garden. Somehow the weeds grow faster than the seeds you sowed. How does that work? They were essentially planted at the same time.

You can think that a tiny weed is no big problem. You don’t have to pull that one. But over time, every little weed becomes a big weed, and somehow the roots of weeds are a lot more tenacious than the plants you are trying to get to grow as vigorously! It works this way with sins vs. godly habits too.

A wound between friends, left to fester, doesn’t get well with time. It just remains a sore that ultimately ruins a friendship.

Procrastination seems like a good idea on a beautiful sunny day when everyone would rather be outside than doing what needs to be done first. Benjamin Franklin knew what he was talking about when he said, “A stitch in time saves nine.”

Once a moment is spent, you can’t get it back. It’s history - literally and colloquially.

Time seems to go more quickly the older you get. What seemed like forever to an eight year old seems like a snap of the fingers to me.

Time seems to go very slowly on Atonement.

Going back in time or visiting the future wouldn’t be nearly as much fun as we imagine. But we waste time thinking about the good old days or daydreaming about what we’ll do tomorrow. In the meantime, back in reality, thinking back or forward causes us to miss the present - and it is called the present because it’s a gift from God.

Dad mentioned on the last Day of Unleavened Bread that time is the only thing we have to give to God. Everything else is already His. So when God gifts us with time, we need to consider carefully what we’re going to do with it. What is the most valuable use of our time? What brings glory and honor to Him?

One of the graduates at Christopher’s commencement said that people always ask kids what they’re going to be when they grow up - instead of asking them what they’re going to do. She’s going to be a beautician. But she’s planning to leave a legacy of serving God, bringing Him glory and honor.

That legacy, however, won’t happen without some planning, some preparation and perseverance. We, each of us, need to spend time (some of that precious gift God’s given to us) reading His word, to know what is pleasing to Him. We need to meditate on it. We need to spend time in prayer, talking with our God! We need to be intentional about our time with God, not just letting it happen whenever we have time to fit it into our busy lives. Spending time with God daily is the crucial foundation of living a life to bring Him glory and honor because we can’t please Him unless we know Him. And we can’t know Him unless we spend quality time with Him. But then, we have to make sure God is part of everything we do. We cannot please Him if we compartmentalize Him into something convenient when we have time. He wants people who are wholly devoted to Him. He’s an integral part, the foundational component, of everything we do.

As we count to Pentecost, we are given another reminder from our Heavenly Father about just how significant time is. He wants us to count the days and make them count for Him.  

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12 (ESV)

 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:16 (KJV)