Sunday, April 29, 2007
EXODUS 17 (The Message)
Did you ever notice that the world gets louder the more off track it is?
When metal is molten in order to be cast into some shape, all of the garbage raises to the top of the pot. It is called "dross" if it is solid impurity and "slag" if it is liquid. The more impurity in the metal, the more the junk on top hides the good stuff underneath.
Life seems that way, too. You can be doing the good stuff, always feeling like you're following God and yet all the "junk" of the world hides you. And, the more off track the world is, the more you may feel buried by it.
The bright shiny molten metal at the bottom of the pot doesn't care when the dross and slag hide it. Ultimately, those things will be skinned off and the pure metal will be allowed to be formed into what it was intended. Purity prevails in the end.
If we're following God, we can reside in that same level of faith.
In seventh grade, I had a teacher write something on my grade card which I think ultimately has had a major impact of encouragement on me. I was always a pretty quiet, shy kid. What she wrote on my grade card was that "Great things often come in quiet packages." I don't think she was necessarily correct on the "great" part but over the years her comment has provided me encouragement that, so long as I am doing what I know to be the "right" things, the noisier "slag" that seems to be hiding my efforts really makes no difference. She gave me assurance that it's okay to be humble. Unfortunately, in the schoolyard, that message doesn't come out all that often to kids.
God calls us to humility and he works through and protects the humble. The Israelites, finally released from slavery to the Egyptians, are a good example of this. As Pharaoh became increasingly loud and agitated, the Israelites stayed humble and, despite some bickering and issues along the way, they remained faithful to God. His faithfulness to them, of course, was ultimately revealed.
Exodus 17
When metal is molten in order to be cast into some shape, all of the garbage raises to the top of the pot. It is called "dross" if it is solid impurity and "slag" if it is liquid. The more impurity in the metal, the more the junk on top hides the good stuff underneath.
Life seems that way, too. You can be doing the good stuff, always feeling like you're following God and yet all the "junk" of the world hides you. And, the more off track the world is, the more you may feel buried by it.
The bright shiny molten metal at the bottom of the pot doesn't care when the dross and slag hide it. Ultimately, those things will be skinned off and the pure metal will be allowed to be formed into what it was intended. Purity prevails in the end.
If we're following God, we can reside in that same level of faith.
In seventh grade, I had a teacher write something on my grade card which I think ultimately has had a major impact of encouragement on me. I was always a pretty quiet, shy kid. What she wrote on my grade card was that "Great things often come in quiet packages." I don't think she was necessarily correct on the "great" part but over the years her comment has provided me encouragement that, so long as I am doing what I know to be the "right" things, the noisier "slag" that seems to be hiding my efforts really makes no difference. She gave me assurance that it's okay to be humble. Unfortunately, in the schoolyard, that message doesn't come out all that often to kids.
God calls us to humility and he works through and protects the humble. The Israelites, finally released from slavery to the Egyptians, are a good example of this. As Pharaoh became increasingly loud and agitated, the Israelites stayed humble and, despite some bickering and issues along the way, they remained faithful to God. His faithfulness to them, of course, was ultimately revealed.
Exodus 17
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