Saturday, May 05, 2007
EXODUS 23 (The Message)
Exodus 23
"Don't go along with the crowd in doing evil..." I need to keep that one in mind for Evan. Even in just third grade, we learned recently of his classmates making fun of and picking on one another. We have heard that, thus far, Evan has known better than to join in but generally he is more of a follower than a leader so it may just be a matter of time before he joins in. Lisa and I are determined to stay on top of this. I will say this, though, despite not perhaps being a "leader" in elementary school, I am incredibly proud of seeing Jesus in Evan in that he does have a great inherent sense of fairness and justice, he is incredibly honest and forthcoming (sometimes even to a fault in a "hey lady, that dress really does make your butt look big" sort of way) and he genuinely senses when people are doing wrong and he tries to avoid joining in.
"If you see your enemy's ox or donkey loose, take it back to him..." I assume this applies to my friend's ox or donkey, too. I am not very experienced with livestock though so I just keep praying, "Lord, today's a really busy day, I don't have time to be messing with somebody's loose donkey today so please keep them all tied up!"
I love the reassurance in verses 20 -24. Periodically, I will hear messages about how we should rejoice in the tough times ... the difficulties of life ... because those are the times when God refines us and gives us wisdom in comparison to just knowledge. That can be such a difficult thing to remember and embody though! However, verses 20 - 24 give us the assurance that, during those tough times, God is going ahead of us ... he is preparing the way even into diffiulty ... if we trust ion Him, we will survive and emerge stronger and victorious on the other side.
Verses 28 -31 provide even more assurance that not only is God going ahead of us in tough times but He is working to make things as easy for us as possible during those times.
We can take reassurance in this ... tough times never last but those who are "tough in the Lord" will survive because He is always there not only "with" us but "for" us if we allow Him to be.
"Don't go along with the crowd in doing evil..." I need to keep that one in mind for Evan. Even in just third grade, we learned recently of his classmates making fun of and picking on one another. We have heard that, thus far, Evan has known better than to join in but generally he is more of a follower than a leader so it may just be a matter of time before he joins in. Lisa and I are determined to stay on top of this. I will say this, though, despite not perhaps being a "leader" in elementary school, I am incredibly proud of seeing Jesus in Evan in that he does have a great inherent sense of fairness and justice, he is incredibly honest and forthcoming (sometimes even to a fault in a "hey lady, that dress really does make your butt look big" sort of way) and he genuinely senses when people are doing wrong and he tries to avoid joining in.
"If you see your enemy's ox or donkey loose, take it back to him..." I assume this applies to my friend's ox or donkey, too. I am not very experienced with livestock though so I just keep praying, "Lord, today's a really busy day, I don't have time to be messing with somebody's loose donkey today so please keep them all tied up!"
I love the reassurance in verses 20 -24. Periodically, I will hear messages about how we should rejoice in the tough times ... the difficulties of life ... because those are the times when God refines us and gives us wisdom in comparison to just knowledge. That can be such a difficult thing to remember and embody though! However, verses 20 - 24 give us the assurance that, during those tough times, God is going ahead of us ... he is preparing the way even into diffiulty ... if we trust ion Him, we will survive and emerge stronger and victorious on the other side.
Verses 28 -31 provide even more assurance that not only is God going ahead of us in tough times but He is working to make things as easy for us as possible during those times.
We can take reassurance in this ... tough times never last but those who are "tough in the Lord" will survive because He is always there not only "with" us but "for" us if we allow Him to be.
Name:
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home