As I get older I find myself saying, "Where was I, it seems my train (of thought) has derailed again." I feel like my train is off the track more than it is on. I don't know if it's age, underuseage, or simply too many balls in the air. As it is, I do my best... but sometimes I drop balls. I end up apologizing a lot more these days... realizing my misunderstandings and failures more often... or maybe it's that I've finally accepted a bit of humility into my life. Ok, yeah, I'm getting older... definitely. The twenty-something that claimed to be a perfectionist has been snuffed out by a couple more decades of real life and a family that is watching my every move.... not to mention realizing that God is really, and truly, watching and caring about how I conduct my life. Can you say pressure? Or is it really accountability? Hmmmm....
I titled this post "Re-direction" and went on about my poor derailed train of thought because I realized post - post (ok, that was one of my goofy puns again.... sorry)... after posting "Self-discipline" that I got so wrapped up in finding out what yeast was all about that my explanation didn't actually apply to the verse I was trying to hammer out (from "Yeast"). It applied to the first verse that I wrote about in "Thankfulness in the Beginning." Ugh! I can't seem to get away from this whole yeast issue. I guess God has a message for me here... so I'll continue to listen to His voice and wrestle this one out.
Forgive me if you have been following all of this and have been stumped by my confusion. So, last time I went on about the absence of yeast or unleavened bread for the sake of ridding oneself of symbolic sin or evil. What I needed to do was to explain why yeast was actually used in Lev. 7:13's part of the fellowship offering. "with cakes of bread made with yeast." Apparently this regulation was not against the prohibition of yeast since the offering here was not burned on the altar. Burning yeast was prohibited. But eating it was not prohibited at all times. The fellowship offering was the only sacrifice of which the offerer might eat a part. Fellowship was involved because the offerer, on the basis of of the sacrifice, had fellowship with God and with the priest, who also ate part of the offering - also referred to as a communal meal or communion. Complex isn't it? Complexity isn't bad when you finally get the point... what is tough is when it hurts your brain to try to figure something out that seems fairly simple and you "just don't get it." I'm thankful that I finally got the basic idea anyway.... and learned some interesting and noteworthy things along the way.
Here's my thankful thoughts for the day: I'm thankful for finally getting this lesson figured out, for a day with the sun shining, and for the reminder that all the good things in life (family, friends, health, abilities, possessions, and time) come straight from the Creator/Provider's almighty hand as gifts. Instead of a feeling of entitlement to these blessings I would like to focus more on gratitude to the giver of all good things. He hears our pleas... even the small ones... but remember that sometimes a good parent must say "no" - - for our own good. In time we can even find ways to praise God for the No's... when we realize that the new, and better, path we are on is due to the re-direction of His loving ways. "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21
"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b
No comments:
Post a Comment