Make an Awful Hole

We are just now getting to the point where we can plant a few things here on the farm. I was able to plant a few tomatoes and squash last week and have been watering them. They are looking good and I fully expect to enjoy tomatoes and squash this summer. I was thinking of the law of sowing and reaping this morning. At this point, whether I expect for these things to grow or not, doesn’t much matter. The fact is, there is a natural law set up by God. Everything produces after its kind. Galatians 6:7,8 says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

Of course we are not just talking about tomatoes here. I think that most people don’t realize the full effects of this. THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES FOR OUR ACTIONS. Whether good or bad, what we do today, effects our lives down the road.

Often times, we reap what others sow, also. Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m a product of my raising”? Well, in a way, that’s true. Anyone who has ever received an inheritance from a relative’s estate has reaped what someone else has sown. Any child who ends up in foster care because their parents were drug addicted or abusive in some way, is reaping what someone else has sown. Unfortunately, the consequences of what we do, are never limited to effect only us. We effect those around us by our actions in so many ways.

“Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?” Clarence Oddbody “It’s a Wonderful Life”

I pray that I can sow good seed, not grow weary in doing so, and leave an awful hole when I'm gone.

 

“A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.”
D. Elton Trueblood

Fairy Tales

“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” 
― G.K. Chesterton

"The old fairy tales endure forever. The old fairy tale makes the hero a normal human boy; it is his adventures that are startling; they startle him because he is normal." 

Chesterton

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” 
― Albert Einstein

Have you noticed the fascination that people have with fairy tales? It’s what is “in” this year. All of the movies, and many of the television series that I’ve seen lately are all based on fairy tales. Vampires are so last year, right? May be not…….. Anyway, my confession is that I love the newest trend. I love to pick up old fairy tale books, and have several from other countries. I even have a Russian version of Little Red Riding Hood!

Why do people have such a love affair with fairy tales? I think it is because they give us hope…that evil witches get theirs’ in the end, that ogres can have a change of heart, that the underdog can rise up and become something better than he/she was, and that somewhere out there, there could be a happy ending.

I must admit that the older I get, the more cynical I become. Prince Charming has issues, the fairy godmother never shows up on time, and my hair is brittle and gives me headaches when it gets too long. (I could never have people climbing it……) Not everyone gets a happy ending, I’ve been around, I’ve seen things. Ecclesiastes 1:18 says, “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.” How does the old saying go? “Ignorance is bliss…..” When you are a child, you can believe in many things, Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, even the Tooth Fairy. Somehow along the way we lose the ability to dream and to imagine the impossible.

Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” He was speaking of entrance into heaven…..(rich men entering heaven and camels going through the eyes of needles) As hard as I find it these days to believe in fairy tales, it doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in anything. I hold on with all that I have to the truth. I have every confidence that one day, evil will be banished and that my Savior will come on a white horse. I am anticipating a beautiful mansion, and streets of pure gold, and have an earnest expectation of “happily ever after”. 

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Permission to "Wine"

     Let me begin by saying that Rob and I were raised Baptist and still consider ourselves thus. We spent 10 years as missionaries in an eastern European country were wine flowed like water and never tasted a drop (except for when we didn’t realize the grape juice we made had turned), even to the point of offending our brethren. One of the things that we learned during our time there, though, is that in a land where many grapes are grown, and there is little or no refrigeration, there will be wine. Just sayin.

When we returned to the states, Rob was complaining one evening (at a church function) about his reflux. A friend that was sitting next to us who was a church member and also a nurse replied, “Have you tried drinking a glass of wine before you go to bed at night?” Of course the reply was “no”, but that began a real study of the scripture on wine. There are scriptures in the old testament that seem to be against the drinking of any alcoholic beverage, but if taken in context are found to be to specific people in specific situations. (usually the sect of the Nasserites)

     We had read before in I Timothy were Paul instructed Timothy in I Timothy 5:23 to  “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.” We also knew from our study that this was not grape juice. Since then, we have discovered that most fermented things are actually good for digestion. And, surprise, surprise, the wine really helped.

 In Psalm 104 it speaks of many of the good gifts of God and says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty…………………………………………..

He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.” Does grape juice gladden your heart?

     So, we concluded that the drinking of alcohol is not prohibited in the Bible, but there is something that is strictly forbidden. Drunkenness is a sin. This is stressed over and over throughout the scripture. In Proverbs 23:21 it says,

     “For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty.” We need to reason all the way through to a conclusion on this one. If we say that to keep from being a drunkard we shouldn’t drink, then by that same reasoning, to keep from being a glutton, we shouldn’t eat. Not many of us have slowed down on our eating.

     This is just another instance where our reasoning and the tradition of man has trumped the scripture and the truth from God’s word. Of course we don’t want to offend a brother or do harm to our witness. That is a discussion for another day. The point I want to make is, whether we are eating or drinking or something else, we always need to practice self control and good judgement, but don’t put rules and restrictions where God didn’t place them.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self control: against such there is no law.”– Galatians 5:22-23 KJV