The Fall

Recently I fell on the concrete in my driveway while putting away toys my grandchildren had been using. I didn't fall gracefully. I landed on both knees then toppled over awkwardly. It was not a pretty sight. And it hurt. I had to sit some moments squeezing my eyes tightly and biting my lip. Finally I was able to get up, go inside and share my humiliation with my husband, my daughters and all my grandchildren. The grands were fascinated and wanted to see Grandmama's skinned knees.

The knees were very sore and messy and oozy for some days. Then the scab began to form. Now the knees felt some better but still tender and developing an ugly dark thick scab. Eventually this began to go away and was looking like my knee again, but it was still a little tender. After many weeks, this healing process seemed to be completed, but I noticed something interesting and little disturbing. I have a scar. Now it may lessen with time but it looks as though this is what my knee is going to look like. How much better it would have been if I had never fallen.

Those two paragraphs were written to make my spiritual application. Sin is painful, humiliating, messy and awkward. Because God's word tells me if I confess my sins God is faithful and just to forgive me, I know my sins won't be fatal. However, the healing process may be long, with pain lasting for a while, possibly forever. In many cases, the scars of sin will last a lifetime. How much better it would be if I avoid those sins that will pain and ooze and scar.

1John 2:1 says, "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin." We are not powerless against sin. Romans 6:14 tells us, "For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." The Holy Spirit within us gives the power to avoid the fall into sin, the injury of sin, and, ultimately the scars of sin.

"Catching" Spring

Every year for as long as I can remember, I have been determined to "catch" spring. I want to know exactly when it arrives, when the first robin is out looking for worms, when the tree in my backyard has the very first bud on it and when the azaleas first begin to pop. Well, in all these years, spring has managed to surprise me. It seems I wake up one morning and the tree is full of buds, there is a whole colony of robins in the yards on Calhoun road and the azaleas down my driveway have hundreds of buds and one or two blooms. I can just depend on this.

I know that I had better put out more feeders filled with Nyjer seed for the goldfinches that will soon be here and clean and fill the hummingbird feeders. It is time to find the best price on ferns and get two big ones to hang outside my sunroom. Daylight savings time is already here and spring seems to have arrived. I want to go buy every bedding plant the nursery has and start digging in the dirt. I want to pull weeds. I want to sit outside and read and feel the warm breeze on my face. I want it to stay spring forever.

It won't. Summer will come and I will love the fresh vegetables and the cicadas' symphony and the long daylight hours. Then when I think I cannot endure the heat any longer, the cool breezes of fall will come with the brilliant colors of dying leaves and planning for Thanksgiving family gatherings. Then on to winter and rainy days and Christmas and bare trees. Then, before you know it, I am trying to "catch" spring again.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven..." Ecclesiastes 3:1.

Correction

As I was hurriedly typing in Microsoft Word the other day, I kept getting words underlined in red. Of course this meant I had misspelled, so I had to go back and correct. The Holy Spirit is our "red underline" when we misstep in our daily walk. If we are sensitive to His leading, we will note that check in our spirit, tug by our conscience or the recall of convicting scripture. In Job 37, Elihu describes some things that God might use for correction. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells that God's word is for correction. Jeremiah 5:3 tells of a stiff neck, rebellious people who refuse to take correction.

As I type and have words underlined in red, I can choose to go back and correct or I can finish my document with misspelled words. Someone reading it will notice that I have misspelled words. These will distract and my document will not be as effective as it would have been had I made the corrections. The same is true with our lives. We cannot serve and glorify our God effectively if we allow sins in our lives to go unconfessed and uncorrected. David said in Psalm 51, "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." May this be our constant prayer today as we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, sensitive to His correction.

Heeding Warnings

The storm sirens went off multiple times last Friday and Saturday. I have heard many express their annoyance at these repetitive warnings when the threat didn't materialize. Yes, it was particularly inconvenient for those in institutions caring for children or the elderly. It was inconvenient to continually check to determine if the storm was imminent or merely possible. It was inconvenient to head to our "safe place" one more time.

I remember the time when there was no warning system. I remember when the system was less sophisticated and the warning sounded only when a tornado was spotted in the area and possibly right upon us. Then it was almost too late. I remember eight years ago when a storm with straight line winds of 100 miles per hour came through our town without warning, caught me in my car out on the highway, and blew five large trees down on my house causing great damage.

Warnings are often unpleasant, inconvenient and often not applicable. Most of the product warnings nowadays don't apply to me because I don't use most of the products named. However, I don't need to allow my sensibilities to these to become dull and unresponsive. The very next warning could seriously impact me.

I'm studying Isaiah. I think the Old Testament prophets were probably looked upon by some then as the tornado sirens were last week - as an annoyance, often causing an angry reaction. The prophets were ignored by many, just as were the sirens. When Isaiah began his vineyard parable in Isaiah 5, many of those to whom the message was given did not have a clue he was preaching to them. Their sensibilities had become dulled. Then in verse 7, the "radar" zoomed in when Isaiah identified Israel and Judah as the definite, without a doubt targets for the warning. The next verse begins the "woes". The storm of God's judgment was coming and Israel and Judah were in the path.

God's word is full of warnings that are as applicable for us today as they were over two thousand years ago. We can choose to ignore, to be annoyed, to be angry, or to have no reaction at all. Or, we can choose to heed the warnings and find our safe place of blessing and peace in repentance and obedience to God's will.