Month: May 2018

What’s in a number? I believe all numbers are significant. There is a song that starts “One is the loneliest number”. This week, I would like to use twelve not for being lonely but for being so meaningful. It is a number equivalent to the product of 3 and 4. It is divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. Twelve is a number of greatest magnitude that has just one syllable. Twelve is central to many systems such as the Western Calendar, units of time and in old English money, the number of pence to make up a shilling. In Soccer called football in England and in American Football, the 12th man is the fans. Did you know the 12th man tradition started after a game won by Texas A&M in 1922. Interesting read in sports history.

The number 12 is found in 187 places in God’s Word. 12 is a perfect number and symbolizes completeness. Jesus had 12 disciples but what happened to one of them and why was it so important to replace the one to bring the number back to 12? Acts 1:21,22 tells us that they felt compelled to replace Judas as a witness to Jesus’ resurrection. They nominated 2 out of a family of about 120 believers. They cast lots and the lot fell on Matthias to be added as the new 12th disciple.

I believe like the loyal football fan, all of us believers are the 12th person. We may have not been present to see the resurrection but should remain in the game to see His victorious return. Until the game is over let us continue to bear witness to the truth, light, life and word.

T

 

If I may challenge your memory, I would like to remind my readers of the assignment to count the number of times the word love or loved appeared in my referenced passage last week. Also, I would like to correct reference to the word “lease” as should have read “least” as one reader commented last week. Thanks for the edit. My message this week again is all about love.

In order to write about love, I am constantly reminded of the one person who love me in spite of myself. She was my mother. I hope all of you had a chance this week to travel into the depths of your memories to enjoy those times you felt your mother’s love. I suspect if your mother was like mine, sometimes it was a hard love to teach me a lesson. I remember being so hard headed that I was convinced I should wear my football uniform to school as I thought the coach had required. Wrong! My mother tried to persuade me until finally I had to learn the hard way. This is one of my most embarrassing memories. My mother showed some hard love but backed it up with her soft love as she followed the bus to school with a fresh change of proper school clothes. I can laugh about it now but then was devastated. Can you remember memories of your actions as a child or young adult where your mother showed unconditional love? To me, it is all about love whether hard or soft or just being present to pick us up when we fell. What greater love is that?

1 John 5:1 reminds me of grand parents, who loves the child born to the parent. I suppose that is what makes those of us who are blessed to be grand parents so appreciative of our parents, especially our mothers. What we thought was hurtful actions preventing us from being ourselves are now in our memories as actions of love to teach us how to live. If we love Jesus, God loves us and our memories of His commandments serve as our weapons against this cruel world. Jesus even encapsulated all of God’s commandments into one commandment to love each other just as he loved us, as written in John 15:12.

I attended a funeral the other day of a loved Grand and Great Grand Mother and the memories flowed like water through our eyes and hearts. None of us are perfect except in our mother’s eyes. So as we grow and our actions turn into memories for our children and grand children, may we consider the foundation of love in all that we do.

T

Course is the route or direction followed. Course is a dish, or a set of dishes forming a meal. If the course is of a liquid, it moves without obstruction. All these definitions for course comes from good ole google. But I would like to consider the course or path of lease resistance. As a liquid moves without obstruction or sometimes around obstructions, so too can we move along the course of life to avoid resistance. That’s a good thing sometimes but all too often is an easy way out. It can lead to a dead end and no where else to turn as time runs out. As Mother’s day approaches, first off, remember your mothers and second, remember that mothers take a course of resistance to keep us safe and love us in spite of us.

Let’s take the words “love” and “hate” and consider the course these words take in our lives. Hate or hatred begins with conflict whether perceived in misunderstanding, or hurtful words, or physical action which results in a reaction. The course of hatred leads us to more conflicts, wars and destruction. The aftermath is a mess so we have to pick up the pieces and try to reconcile with a short term peace accord. Hatred is still the driving mechanism that leads us to do it all over again. The endless cycle continues until we run out of time for an ultimate reconciliation. The course of hatred is easy and can even provide some satisfaction for those seeking a win at all cost. The course of love is not so easy therefore some fail to take this course as it seems too hard.

If we take the course of love, we find ourselves in conflict with hate. Should we resist hate? If we resist hate, we have a slim chance for conflict resolution. It may take several iterations with failure as part of the final resolution but if we persist going down the course of love, the end result will be an ultimate resolution. The key to success is a two way communication with love as the driving vehicle.

A mother’s love is a close model to God’s love for all of us. Did God take the course of lease resistance when he sent his son to be sacrificed for all of us sinners? Did our mothers take the course of lease resistance when she told us time and time again no? She said no because she loved us and wanted to protect us. True love is not to be taken lightly. When we look back on our past, are we grateful for the good fruits we produced because of our parents love? In 1 John 4:7-21 the word love or loved is repeated ______ times. Your assignment if you so choose is to discover for yourself how many times repeated. I would appreciate your comments.

The repetition of love is the only way in my opinion we can counteract the natural human tendency to hate. Reference to the true vine in John 15:1-8 is another way of saying remain connected to true love that way when you produce good fruit, we prove that we are part of the ultimate solution.

T

 

What is the difference between a Shepherd and a Hired Hand? I suppose in this modern age there may be little difference but I suspect even in today’s society the Shepherd is held with a greater affection that just a hired hand. By definition, a Shepherd is a person who tends to sheep whereas a hired hand is employed for wages. I see the difference between an owner of a business and their employees. A Shepherd may be employed but they have a greater responsibility to protect their flock. In older times, a shepherd would lead their flock into a safe location beside a mountain or hill that would create a natural barrier on three sides. The Shepherd would then lay his body across the opening to create a human gate so neither sheep nor predator could cross. It was a tremendous effort to stay awake all night then lead the sheep to green pastures in the day time. It is a wonder that the Shepherd could survive without some help. Perhaps, the help came from a hired hand or a trusted dog.

The analogy of the good shepherd versus a hired hand can be found in John 10 starting at verse 11. It opens our eyes to realize this good shepherd had multiple flocks who listens only to his voice. Now that is a monumental task! He does it with love for his sheep and his willingness to give up his life so that his sheep may live in peace. What greater love is that?

1 John 3:18 says to not love with words or speech but with action and truth. What greater action is that of a good shepherd. I believe it is up to us all to take on the mission and be totally committed to the cause. Let’s not think like a hired hand instead, let us emulate the good shepherd to protect those who may stray from the flock.

T