Family Matters

Today's passage:  Genesis 32
     Jacob is headed back to the land of his fathers.  God has instructed him in this.  There is only one small problem, actually it is bigger than small.  Esau, his twin brother, the reason he fled in the first place is living nearby.  In Chapter 31, it is evident that Jacob's scheming ways have not completely left him, and in this case that's a good thing.  He divides everything with him into two groups, that way if Esau chooses to exercise revenge, some of his descendants and belongings will survive and carry on the family name.  My immediate reaction upon reading this was, "I wonder how the groups were divided?"  Did he put Rachel, Leah and their sons into one group, and then Bilhah and Zilpah and their sons in another?  Maybe he put Rachel, his beloved, and her handmaid in the group with him and then Leah and her handmaid in the second group.  See what a mess this might create?
     Then, here in Chapter 32, he divides them further as Esau approaches and this is what struck me.

1And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men.  And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.

2And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.

Taken from Treasures of the Bible (Genesis)
By Henry Davenport Northrop, D.D.
International Publishing Company, 1894

       If it had not been clear before, it was certainly obvious now.  Jacob put the people he valued the most at the very back of the line, to preserve them.  And who are the last ones?  Rachel and Joseph.  Perhaps Jacob had shown favoritism to Joseph in subtle ways before this, but I don't think there can be any disputing among the brothers as to who Daddy loved the most.  Dan, Asher, Zebulon, and Issachar must have felt especially undervalued as they are at the front of the line with their mothers.  For a moment, I thought I could argue that Jacob was only putting the oldest sons first, knowing they could defend themselves, but that can't be the case.  The oldest boys were Leah's, and they were put behind Zilpah and Bilhah's boys.  It also doesn't give him an excuse for putting some of the ladies at the head of the pack.  I only know that such blatant favoritism must have stemmed from his own Mother and Father's familial preferences.  He practiced what he had learned.  And his sons will make him pay the price for it.  It must be hard to be the example of what a Father should not do, but Jacob will learn in a few chapters, in a very difficult way, that his behavior towards Joseph   caused a lot of jealousy and even hatred among his sons.  And it probably started way before this chapter, but this is the first instance I see that a line has been drawn.  I'm not sure you can make a point more than choosing for some of your sons to die first, ahead of others. I wonder how Jacob explained this?  Or did he even bother?  Maybe he was so oblivious to how wrong this was, it didn't occur to him to explain it away.  Any explanation would have been lame anyhow, and the boys would have seen through it.  Jacob's future behavior would further cement the assumptions they make at this juncture.  Dad doesn't love me as much as he loves Joseph.  In Dan, Asher, Zebulon, and Issachar's case, "Dad doesn't love me as much as he loves Rachel's and Leah's kids."  What a terrible thing for a child to have to realize!
     Probably in every family, every child has moments when he believes his parent loves one sibling more than another.  But, in many cases this is just a suspicion that can never be proven.  I wish Jacob's sons could say the same.  Though God uses all that Joseph endures for good, and he becomes one of the foremost examples of living for God in difficult circumstances, might God have still accomplished that example had Jacob been a better parent?  Might God have been able to spare Jacob years of believing his son had died and the grief that accompanies it?  I can't answer that, but I know that God uses our weaknesses to work His purpose.  But I don't think that means He wants us to stay deliberately weak.  When we see areas in our life that we should improve, we ought to improve it.  I believe God calls us to that.  In Jacob's case, it may be a matter of seeing the weakness at all.

 

Just a Moment

Today's passage:  Job 2:9-10

 "9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity?  curse God, and die.

10  But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh.  What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?  In all this did not Job sin with his lips."

     As hard as I tried to concentrate on Genesis this morning (and I did read it), a verse jumped out at me last night and it just won't let me go until I get my thoughts about it out.  Maybe after I've written about it for a bit, I can focus more on the passage I am supposed to be studying.
     In Bible study last night, we flipped briefly to these verses and something about them leaped off the page for me.  It was one of those lightbulb-I-never-saw-that-before moments.  Probably anyone reading this saw it a long time ago, but for me, it was brand new.  And when I see something like that, I just have to share (ask my husband--he's probably very glad I share with my blog now, cause I get over-the-top excited sometimes).
     Anyhoo, I have always given Mrs. Job a bad rap.  I think a lot of people have.  Here Job is, he has lost his fortune, he has lost his children (and his heirs, which would also mean the family name would disappear), and now his health.  He is mourning, he is itching, he is discouraged beyond anything I can imagine.  And is his wife any encouragement at all?  No.  She says something hateful.  She says something irrational.  I tend to forget that she lost a little too.  The Bible doesn't say anything at all about her health failing so she couldn't be suffering as much as Job, but take children away from a mother, and well, there is little else I can think of that would plunge her into despair.  She was grieving too.  Does that make her tirade acceptable?  No, it does not.  It might make her a little more sympathetic, but it doesn't make her the heroine.  Job was able to hold his tongue, why couldn't she?
     When I think of Mrs. Job, I think of this bitter woman with a pessimistic life outlook. Indeed, wouldn't Job have been better off without this negative woman?

Courtesy of http://breadsite.org

     Then I read his response.  What hit me is that he doesn't call her a foolish woman.  He says she is speaking like "foolish women" do.  That indicates to me that this was not characteristic of her.  She would not normally say such things.  Grief had overtaken her and in this moment, she said exactly what she thought. Now I realize that what is in our heart is what comes out of our mouth, but have we not all had moments where our hearts felt too empty?  Or too full?  I have said things in a moment that I wish I could take back.  In that one moment, she said something that maybe she wished she could take back too.  Maybe she didn't.  I have no way of knowing.  I just wonder how many times I have said something in a moment of weakness that might become my legacy.  Just one moment.  God chose to put these words in the Bible about Mrs. Job to help us understand some things.  Obviously there is the contrast between Job's reaction and his wife's.  But maybe too, it is to show us that even one moment in our lives may be the historical record by which we are judged.  Perhaps she was as bitter and pessimistic as I have always thought, or maybe, just maybe, she was overcome with her pain in one moment that the worst thing she could think or say came out.
     She lashed out at the only One who could ease her pain.  But before, I am too harsh, I might look at times in my own life, or times to come, that I might have been less than generous with my words, that I might let the sorrow rise and the unwise words hit their mark.  If God chose to record some of my less-than-stellar comments, it might have been only one moment in my life, but anyone who does not know me will judge my character by them.  Just as I have often judged Mrs. Job for hers.

 

Marked

Today's passage:  Romans 16:1-18
     There was a movement in education several years back (seems like there is always some kind of movement) regarding grading student work.  Studies showed that negative red marks on student work lowered their self esteem. I'm not sure what the solution to this "dilemma" was, because I had pretty well tuned out after that, but I would not be surprised if the recommendation had been never to point out wrong answers on schoolwork.  I guess that explaining to the kindergartner that two plus two is indeed four and not five would shatter his self image too much, and well, we wouldn't want that.
     I just thought to myself, wouldn't it be more harmful to his self esteem if they were allowed to believe that their wrong answers were alright even into adulthood?  Isn't someone along the way going to make him feel ignorant for his well, ignorance and maybe in a much less kind way than a red mark on a paper?  I can understand that a student might be discouraged at seeing a failing test with red x's all over it, but am I doing that child a favor by not pointing it out so he can learn from his mistake and get it right in the future?  And what about his classmates?  When they see each other's work (which they always do somehow), aren't they going to point out to me or to him that he got two plus two equals five wrong too?
     This brings me to the passage today.  In verses 17-18, Paul writes:

17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." 

Demetrius the Silversmith Stirs up a Riot
Taken from Treasures of the Bible
By Henry Davenport Northrop, D.D.
International Publishing Company, 1894

     When I saw that word "mark", I immediately thought of taking a big red marker and drawing an "x" across something. Must be the teacher in me.  This is a hard truth.  And what is harder is that Paul points out the exact method a person uses to do this.  A person who is trying to divide a congregation doesn't go about it like a cyclone, although he has that exact effect.  How?  "By good words and fair speeches".  That would probably mean this is somebody who is very well liked.  I have seen this happen in churches before.  The pastor usually has to call out these particular people because it is what the Bible commands. Half the congregation feels this is extreme, because after all,  Mr. Division was such a helpful person.  He would see a need and be the first person there to assist (all the while planting heresy in the listener's ear).  Or Ms. Offence was always so efficient (especially at explaining why the pastor was wrong about the resurrection).

      The pastor has to expose this kind of behavior.  Why?  The end of verse 18 explains why, so that these deceivers can not lead hearts away.  The Bible calls them "simple", which I think would mean naive or trusting.  And who would be the most trusting in our congregations?  New converts and children.  I don't care how kind or helpful or efficient somebody is, if they are filling my children's ears with wrong doctrine, I don't want them teaching my children.  I don't want them around my children at all.  I would be justified in that because Paul doesn't only say "mark them", but he also says, "avoid them".  When a Mr. Division or Ms. Offence is asked to leave, he and she will more than likely take some followers with them, which is exactly why they have to be asked to leave in the first place.  If that kind of behavior is allowed to continue in a church, the whole congregation could be destroyed. I have never seen a  pastor enjoy exposing this kind of thing, but he is commanded to do it.  People may leave, but losing a few (although it would be preferable not to lose any) has to be risked than losing the whole church to heresy.  Church members who only saw the smiling, jovial, everybody's friend, Mr. Division or Ms. Offence may have been too wise for these people to expose their true selves.  Or true motives.  And this is the hardest part because it would be easier to believe that they are just deceived as well and they just need to grow more in the Lord.  And that may be true, but when they are trying to win others over to their point of view, especially in an already established church with a clear doctrinal statement, Paul says they are only doing it for one reason.  They are trying to serve their own belly.  Serve their own belly?  I've heard of filling a person's belly?  But I would guess it means about the same.  Serving one's belly would mean to have a full one.  And how would he be full?  When he has enough money to fill it.  So I'm guessing these deceivers have only one thing in mind.  Money.  I would like to assign purer motives to people most of the time, as I've said before, I like to think the best about people, but Paul is clear that these people are not trustworthy, and their motives are impure.
     If a pastor were to avoid pointing out these people because he was afraid of crushing someone's self esteem, he would be just as guilty as the teacher who fails to grade a paper properly.  Someone along the way is going to catch on, and the damage then might be far worse.

Statutes of Liberty

Today's passage:  Romans 15:1-6
     "For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me."
     Paul starts this chapter, reminding mature Christians to be careful with their Christian liberty.  The whole chapter before this dealt mostly with this subject, about not being a stumbling block, about abstaining from certain things (in this case meat offered to idols) if it would be a problem for a fellow Christian, particularly a Christian younger in the Lord.  Now, it would be easy to grumble and complain about this. I know many Christians grumble and complain about it, myself included, and I have a pretty sure guess that the Christians in the early church grumbled and complained as well.  If they hadn't, there would have been little need to address it.   Then Paul drops the anvil.  It is pretty hard to complain about giving up certain liberties until I realize that Christ gave everything up for me.

Picture is courtesy of http://breadsite.org

      If Jesus could have done it another way, I'm guessing He probably would have brought His riches from Heaven with Him. He would have been excellent help in Joseph's carpenter shop when He could speak a piece of furniture into existence rather than using the hammer, nails and wood.  Using his supernatural powers, He could have silenced the Pharisees by making them dumb.  He could transport from town to town to preach rather than walking those great distances and he would never have to borrow another man's home for a night's sleep.  If Jesus could have done it another way, He would probably never have come to earth at all.  He gave up His comforts, His powers, His life.  Anything I might have to give up seems awfully petty by comparison, doesn't it?  Now, I don't know why God chose to have Jesus come the way He did, but something tells me, that He had to live like us, to be an example for us.  None of us will have all the power of the universe, but I might have to change my way of doing things to reach someone else or help them grow.  I never had to give up golden streets or ivory palaces, but I might have to hold my tongue if someone says something unpleasant to me.  I never had to give up my life (prayerfully, never will) but I might have to steer away from certain topics of conversation if it might be offensive to a younger Christian.  Do I have the freedom to watch, go, listen to, say, whatever I want?  Of course I do.  Are there people who will take advantage of the Christian liberty issue, claiming they are offended by this thing or that thing?  Yes.  We will encounter that too, and then we have to decide if it is a matter of causing a Christian to genuinely stumble or whether they just have a critical spirit (which even if that is the case, doesn't necessarily mean I still shouldn't be accomodating).  Jesus could have barred the Pharisees from ever coming to listen to Him.  They were always critical, trying to entrap rather than enjoy.   They never came because they wanted to believe (although Nicodemus eventually did).  Jesus was not too concerned about offending them, because they never intended to receive Him.  But He is all-knowing, and He could make that judgement.  I am not.  So when my Christian liberty is in question, I would be better to let the thing go rather than examine all angles of the case to see if it is something I should continue to pursue.  Is my comfort or right to something really worth offending a fellow brother or sister in Christ, or worse yet, causing an  unsaved person to stay unsaved?  Every person has to decide that for herself, but as for me, I don't feel at liberty to risk it.

I Did it My Way

Today's passage:  II Samuel 11
     Maybe the reason we have so many bumps in our road in this life is because when we have too many victories, too many successes, we lose our way and wander from God.  I can only believe that is what happened to David in this chapter.  What happened here?  How did David go from being a man who asked God what to do, who quelled his enemies (all Jehovah haters) to such depravity in this passage?  It is hard to fathom.  But it certainly shows me how careful I must be.  It is a warning that each day we must live anew and devoted to God.  I can not assume that because yesterday was a "good" day, that today will not be a bad one. I can not depend on the Bible reading and prayer from last week to get me through this week.  I need to be searching for God each and every day of life.  I need to grasp hold of His wonderful mercies, of His Words of Life every day that I can.  Does it mean I still may fall?  Yes.  But the more of God's Word I have in me, the more of His wisdom I have.  The more wisdom I have, the more able I am to discern situations and hopefully steer clear of ones that could doom me.
     Let me point out one more thing in this passage.  Sometimes if we want to do things our way long enough, God says okay.  What am I talking about?  After David has committed this sin with Bathsheba, after he finds out they are going to have a child together, he does everything he can to make it look like Uriah fathered that child.  He calls him back from battle and encourages him to go home to his wife.  This backfires because Uriah has an inordinate sense of duty which dictates to his conscience that he should still act the soldier even back on the home front.  So then, David keeps Uriah off the battlefield for a few days, apparently getting him drunk so that his conscience will be dimmed, and then perhaps he will go home to his wife.  This doesn't work either.  Too intoxicated, Uriah can only stumble as far as the servant's quarters, where he spends the night.  David is getting frustrated.  Does it seem that maybe God is giving David an out here?  I mean, in both of these instances, David could have made this situation right.  He could have owned up to his sin, asked forgiveness of this brother, and let God handle the matter.  But David is still plotting and scheming.  He gives Uriah a note to deliver to Joab when he returns to battle.  David has assessed enough about Uriah that his loyalty will have him deliver his own death warrant to the general, unopened and unread.

Nathan Confronts David
Original source and illustrator unknown

     Think about that.  Wasn't Uriah even a little curious as to what the letter contained?  Wouldn't he have wanted to sneak a little peek?  God could have had that happen.  That certainly would have been an awkward scenario.  But God lets David carry out this treacherous plan.  Uriah delivers the letter with David's wishes to have him killed, Joab reads and seems to immediately understand the situation.  Maybe Joab had been accustomed to David's wandering eye.  David did have a few wives already.  Joab does not ask questions.  He does what his king orders.  The move he makes is contrary to any he would make at other times.  Joab is too good of a military leader to do what he does here.  He moves his troops ridiculously close to the enemy wall.  In Judges, there is a similar story, where Gideon's son, Abimelech goes close to the wall and a woman drops a millstone on his head, which injures him enough that he could die a slow suffering death.  He chooses to have his men to run him through so that his death is quick and so that a woman does not get the credit for his demise.  Joab refers to this incident when he sends a messenger back to David to inform him of Uriah's death.  He basically tells him, "Ordinarily, we wouldn't have been so close to the wall as our forefather, Abimelech, but you did want Uriah dead, and we achieved that objective."
     David is relieved.  Little does he know that God allowing him to have his own way, is going to bring greater grief than David feels he can bear.  Sometimes God lets us have our own way.  Many times He gives us chances to make things right, to come clean, but if we refuse, God will allow us to bear the full consequences of our choices.  I will make mistakes.  I will make big mistakes.  Prayerfully, at the first opportunity, I will make it right, and not compound it with more foolish choices.  Prayerfully, I will allow His Word to saturate my decision making to avoid the mistake in the first place.  God allows me to do things my way, but it doesn't mean I will get away with sin.

Sounds Tempting

Today's passage:  I Corinthians 10:1-22
     It is puzzling how several children can grow up in the same family, having the same teachings about life, about the Lord, about character, and each of these children will handle those teachings differently.  One child may internalize these values, embrace them, and apply them to his life.  Another child might test these teachings, stray for a little while, return to them and use them for the rest of her life.  Still another child may scoff at these values, push them aside, and live his life as he pleases, without thinking another thing about them.  How does that happen?  I think this chapter in I Corinthians is a good indicator.
     All of God's children, the Israelites, were stranded in the wilderness.  They ate the same meals together, they traveled to the same places together, they witnessed the same miracles together.  They received the same Ten Commandments together.  Some of them chose to follow God's commands, others chose to ignore them.  Why?  What would cause that?  Verse 6 says, "Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted."  Lust for the things they were going after was the root cause of why they strayed, and ultimately were punished and destroyed.  Do we all lust after evil things?  We all have that sin nature, so the answer must be yes.  Now as Christians, we have a new nature that can overpower our sin nature, but how often do we listen to it? 
     "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."  The word "wherefore" points back to the previous verses.  Maybe the problem wasn't that the Israelites disregarded God's commands.  Maybe it was that since they were under God's protection, they thought they could not be affected by evil.  They had guidance from God's pillar of cloud by day, and God's pillar of fire by night.  They had been provided manna each day, falling from the heavens.  They had been given water from a rock.  Wasn't God in complete control of their lives?  If they were tempted with something, wasn't it God who allowed it?  Unfortunately, I have seen too many Christians justify their sin, by saying God led them to it.  I have heard on too many occasions that God would not have put such and such in their path if He didn't want them to participate in it.  Of course, we know that this is flawed logic.  The next verse tells us why.  "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."  There is not a single temptation in my life or anyone else's that someone else has not faced at some point.  This kind of goes in hand with Solomon's observation in Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun.  The temptations I face today are exactly like the ones the Israelites faced in the Old Testament.  Okay, well maybe not in the exact form, but the exact sin.  For example, the Israelites did not have a TV set on which to watch music videos that blares blasphemous lyrics, with scantily clad women gyrating across the screen.  No, they could witness a live performance.  The Israelites could not access lewd photos via the internet, they could just let their mind do the imagining for them.  The Israelites may not have had to battle against street gangs and crystal meth.  I'm guessing the warrior nations were just as bad, and I don't know when opium arrived on the scene.  All our temptations are the same.  Not only does God make a way for us to escape these temptations, He makes a way for us to avoid them in the first place.  The verse immediately following says, "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry."  There is that word again.  Wherefore.  God gives us a way to escape by staying away from the stuff to begin with.  If we think we are too strong not to fall, then we most certainly will.  God will give us a way to escape but the primary way is to stay far away from anything that will tempt us.  Flee, God says.  Don't go near it.  Don't stay around it.  Don't play by it, or with it.  And if we stay close by, we still can overcome it, because God says we can, but His intent was never for us to get close enough to get burned.  Many of us can identify the particular sins that beset us.  The sins that I stumble over may not be the ones with which others wrestle.  Somebody struggles with the sins I struggle.  Someone struggles with the sins you struggle.  None of us is alone in this Christian journey.  None of us is the only one facing that particular temptation.  I think God tells us this so that we don't get a martyr's complex and believe that we can never overcome.  Others have, so I can too.  But the key to overcoming in the first place, is to keep as far away from the sin that most troubles me.

Breaking Away from Habits
Taken from Treasures of the Bible
By Henry Davenport Northrop, D.D.
International Publishing Company, 1894

     Parents often look for the weaknesses in themselves that may have caused their children  to decide to go their own way in the world.  We often blame ourselves when our children make wrong choices.  Here is the primary problem with that.  All of us are imperfect.  We all have weaknesses.  We all have character flaws.  We all have difficult choices.  Sometimes we will make the wrong ones.  Sometimes we will not always be the example we need to be.  But there is not a single perfect parent who does everything perfectly.  Since this is the case, we cannot blame ourselves for every wrong choice our children choose to make.  Do we need to try to make the best choices possible?  Yes.  Do we need to do our best to set an example?  Of course.  But if we are living our life in a way that we are doing our best to live for God, even in the best scenarios, we may have children who reject everything they have been taught.  Can you imagine if Moses blamed himself for each Israelite in the wilderness who helped to create the golden calf?  Was he guilt-ridden over each person who refused to look up at the brass serpent?  I know he mourned.  I know he sorrowed, but because of their own choice, not because of his.  If we have been the best example we can be, we need to realize that our children are responsible for their own choices.  If we have taught them to flee from evil, and they choose to run headfirst into it, we should not feel responsible for their disobedience.  Sometimes we do the best we can, and prayer is the only thing left.  God gives us principles and we must do our best to apply them.  But even in the best of families, there may be a child who follows after her own lusts.  Prayerfully, she will recognize her folly and return to what she has been taught.  If she does not, I should not assume it is something that I have done.  Even if I lived perfectly, she may have decided to perfectly avoid that.

This Little Light of Mine

Today's passage:  I Samuel 3
     "And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always."  Exodus 27:20
     Eli had become an ineffective priest.  He had become a permissive father.  God had already told him that He would take away the priesthood from his sons because of their ungodly behavior.  One might argue, "But they were adults, what could Eli do?"  He could have stripped them of their priesthood, he could have made them pack their bags and participate in their wickedness elsewhere. Maybe he was oblivious to all that his sons were doing, but if he was, then he neglected to find out.  As parents, we must be vigilant.  We must not always trust our child's words, we must observe their actions.  I know this is sometimes easier said than done, and since I do not have teenagers or young adults yet, it would be easy to dismiss this bit of advice, but if I remind myself of this now, hopefully I will follow through when those times actually come.
     Growing up, if I were ever to misbehave in school, my mother always sided with the teacher.  Always.  I didn't know until I was an adult that she didn't care for a particular elementary teacher of mine.  She never let on that she disagreed with her.  I always knew that if I got in trouble in school, I got in trouble at home.  Why isn't it like that today?  Teachers are not perfect.  They make mistakes.  But children should never know that parent and teacher are not in agreement.  Children should never be aware that Mommy and Teacher are not on the same page.  When we take up for our children in every matter, they soon learn that their behavior is excusable.  I'm not saying we should never be advocates for our children.  But if we choose to step in on their behalf, it should be minimal, and the child should not be aware of it.  I've watched several children grow up.  I've noticed something.  Children whose parents made excuses for them, many times,  are still making excuses.  Our children will never be perfect.  But we should never excuse bad behavior.  They should always know consequences are down the line.  We should show mercy on occasion, because God is merciful with us, but not every time. 
     I'm afraid Eli made excuses for his sons.  And now it was harvest time.  God made it clear that Eli's family would no longer claim the priesthood.  The lamp of God had gone out in the tabernacle.  It went out literally and symbolically.  The priests were instructed to keep the lamp lit at all times, but Eli has allowed it to extinguish.  He had not performed his duties as a priest should.  The light had gone out in the tabernacle and in Eli's family.  God would be judging them for their misconduct very soon.  This is the message He had already given Eli, and it is the message He repeated to young Samuel. 

Samuel Tells Eli that he heard him calling--Taken from Standard Bible Readers, Book Two
By Lillie A. Faris, Illustrated by O.A. Stemler and Bess Bruce Cleaveland
 Standard Publishing Company, 1925

Eli was not surprised by Samuel's message.  In fact, he seems almost resigned, "It is the LORD:  let him do what seemeth him good."  I can almost see Eli flopping down in a chair with a sigh as he says this.  He has a well-there-is-nothing-I-can-do-about-it-now attitude.  And there probably isn't.  But what could he have done about it sooner?  Perhaps he had taken many measures to correct his sons' behavior, and God just didn't see fit to show us this, but why would they still be priests?  They should not have been in that position if they were not falling in line with Dad's (and God's) rules.  Eli should have confronted them, but sometimes as parents, we are too weak.  Our weaknesses show in the lives of our children, and since we all have faults, our kids are walking billboards, advertising every flaw in our lives.  What faults of mine will my children take with them?  If I see them now, I better try to do something, while they are still at home, while I still have influence on them.  If I leave them uncorrected, their little light may be snuffed out, and the fault would be mine.

A Leaky Pitcher

Isaiah 41:1-29
     It is hard to fathom why God tolerates the kingdoms of Israel with her idolatrous ways.  She has never been faithful to the God who delivered her from so many of her enemies.  She never seems grateful for all the miracles He performed on her behalf.  Then I think about all the times I've failed Him.  They have been numerous.  I think about all the times I've been greedy and wanting more, instead of being grateful and thankful.  Certainly God has been tolerant of my behavior.  My life is not over yet, which means the likelihood that I will still mess up and fail him are 100%.  Israel has had a very long life, thousands of years longer, so maybe the number of times she has messed up, compared with mine, is about even.
    God reminds Israel how He made them a nation.  He raised up Abraham out of practically nowhere and gave him a land.  Apparently according to verses 2-3, Abraham ruled over kings.  I guess I need to review Genesis, because I had not remembered this.  Or maybe this is the first time God chooses to share this information with us.
     "Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away."  This verse, 9, says a lot.  Israel had been called, and through all her mistakes and failings, God has chosen her and has not discarded her.  God does the same with me.  There are some times in my life when I feel like I have completely disappointed God and let Him down.  Fortunately, He does not abandon me.  He still chooses to use me, despite my flaws and defects.  Perhaps it is because I am imperfect, that He does choose to use me.  It just shows how impressive He is.   The leaky pitcher used to serve lemonade probably is not as effective as the pitcher that doesn't leak, and may not serve as many drinks, and may be wasteful, but the fact that it may get the job done at all is a tribute to the person using it.  However, wouldn't I rather be the pitcher that is not leaking? How much more could I accomplish if I were whole? How many more glasses could I fill?  I should not be wasteful of what God has given me.

Taken from Harry's Ladder to Learning
Ward, Lock & Tyler, London, 1869