Marching Forth!

To properly address an illness, we must go beyond seeking to alleviate symptoms.  The symptoms are not the cause--though they might be the reason we seek medical attention!  Fever, chills, and sore throat are indicators of a streptococcal infection lozenges and pain-relieving medication cannot cure.  It is also important antibiotics prescribed by a doctor are taken even after the fever breaks and pain is relieved to ensure the underlying infection is eradicated. It has been a common error in Christians circles to view behaviour or symptoms as the problem rather than addressing the issues of the heart, a chief source of the problem.  We kick ourselves for obvious failings but neglect our need to have our hearts transformed and our minds renewed.  It is necessary we realise a drift into sin began with a drift from God.  The depth of our sin can take us for surprise like a woman who went to the doctor and complained of acute indigestion only to discover sh...

" As iron sharpens iron, s o a man sharpens the countenance of his friend ." Proverbs 27:17 When I worked in mechanical insulation, knives were tools I used daily.  One of the first things you learn after pulling those Dexter Russell or Old Hickory knives from the package is the factory edge is not sufficient.  Knowing the intended use of a knife guided workers in how it should be sharpened:  a fine edge on stainless for cutting rubber was accomplished with a dry stone, and using a double-cut file high-carbon blades could be made serrated.  With a little practice, knives new and old were easily made serviceable by sharpening. King Solomon compared the sharpening of iron using iron to how interactions with others sharpens  friends.  When swords or daggers were blunted, passing blades on one another corrected blunted edges so both were improved.  Sharpening a blade with a stone uses it up, and over time files become dull and useless.  ...

Yesterday I spend time considering the implication of what going the extra mile meant when Jesus said in  Matthew 5:38-41 ,  " You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 39   But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40   If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41   And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two ." Jesus began with a quote from the Law of Moses, but Jesus told his followers not to make demands concerning their rights.  If their eye was gouged out, they had the right under Law to demand the person guilty was made to lose their eye in the same fashion.  This was intended to limit punishment inflicted by the court for crimes.  At the same time would this push for retribution cause the blinded person to regain their lost eyesight?  No:  it blinded another ...

" For three things the earth is perturbed, y es, for four it cannot bear up: 22  for a servant when he reigns, a  fool when he is filled with food, 23  a hateful woman when she is married, a nd a maidservant who succeeds her mistress ." Proverbs 30:21-23 King Solomon said the earth is perturbed when a servant rules, and there is certainly trouble when the unqualified are in charge.  When I worked in a trade I quickly learned not all apprentices I trained handled authority well.  Some imagined additional responsibility was license to delegate their duties to others and cease from profitable labour.  They were unreasonably harsh towards others with less seniority as if they were somehow beneath them.  Let us not think only apprentices are to whom this verse applies, for as God's servants we can try to impose our will on Him. In Luke 10 Martha invited Jesus into her home, and she and Mary sat as His feet and heard His word.  She was ...

In everyone there is a thirst to be loved and accepted that is not always satisfied by others.  Leah is an example of this.  There was a woman who was desperate to be loved but no amount of her efforts worked to achieve it. Jacob worked 7 years for Rachel's hand in marriage, but his deceitful future father-in-law substituted her old sister Leah who is described as "tender eyed."  There are opinions on the exact meaning of this, but it is put in contrast to Rachel being beautiful and well-favoured.  This suggests there was something about Leah's eyes which were not beautiful.  Jacob was angry when he discovered Leah had been given to him in marriage, and a week later consummated a marriage with her sister Rachel.  It says plainly in  Genesis 29:30 Jacob " loved Rachel more than Leah ."  The rivalry would plague their relationship, and each tried to outdo the other. God saw what was going on in Genesis 29:31-32 :  " When the LORD saw t...

I came across a connection I found interesting between Laban and and his nephew Jacob:  they were always working angles for their benefit.  When Abraham's servant came to Nahor to find a wife for his master's son Isaac  Genesis 24:29-31 reads, " Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. 30  So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's wrists , and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, "Thus the man spoke to me," that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well. 31  And he said, "Come in, O blessed of the LORD ! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels ." (emphasis mine)  Laban was glad to favour people from whom he could enrich himself.  Laban proved to be a shrewd man, always seeking his own prosperity at the expense of others. Jacob was the younger of Isaac's twin sons bo...

The almighty God is unapproachable in glory, yet He graciously called the children of Israel as His own inheritance.  He graciously made a covenant with them and His presence dwelt among them.  Offering sacrifices to God under Law became ingrained in the culture of Israel and over time a subtle shift occurred:  people offered sacrifices who did not know God.  They imagined on the basis of their sacrifice they were pleasing and acceptable to God regardless of what they did.  Sin was like a debt in a ledger which sacrifice blotted out, and the greater the sacrifice the more righteous or pious the person.  Ironic, right? I read this today in  Micah 6:6-8 :  " With what shall I come before the LORD , a nd bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,  w ith calves a year old?   7  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, t en thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my trans...