Thought for August 22

History:
  • 565: First recorded observation of the Loch Ness monster
  • 1433: Paul Craw is burned before St Andrews--1st martyr in Scotland
  • 1485: Battle of Bosworth Field--Tudor's defeat Richard III
  • 1775: George III declares colonies in open rebellion
  • 1849: First air raid--Austria launches balloons against Venice
  • 1851: Gold discovered in Australia
  • 1864: First Geneva Convention
  • 1901: Cadillac Motors founded
  • 1902: Teddy Roosevelt is first President to ride in a car while serving.
  • 1906: Victrola manufactured
  • 1952: Devil's Island penal colony closed
  • 1959: American Football League formed
  • 1965: Juan Marachal hits Johnny Roseboro in the head with a bat--brawl follows
  • 2003: Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore suspended for refusing to remove Ten Commandments from lobby of Supreme Court
  • 2020: Fires in Northern California declared Major Disaster
  • Born: Claude Debussy, Dorothy Parker, John Lee Hooker [blues], Ray Bradbury, Honor Blackman [Goldfinger], Norman Schwarzkopf, Carl Yastrzemski, Valerie Harper, Bill Parcells, Cindy Williams [Laverne & Shirley], Diana Nyad, 
  • Died: Ellen Church [1st female airline stewardess], Sebastian Cabot [Mr. French], Huey Newton [Black Panthers], William Mackay [We Praise Thee O God for the Son of Thy Love]
Thought:
I am thinking about passages in the Bible that we know very well, but sometimes forget the truth they present. Reading from Genesis 2 this morning and struck by the verbs used to describe the actions of God in relation to Adam. Read 2:4-17. Notice what God did at creation:
  • God formed man from dust. That thought alone could occupy my mind today. In Genesis 1, God spoke light into existence. God separated the seas from the land. God spoke and vegetation appeared. He placed the sun, moon and stars in space. God spoke and the waters teemed with life and the skies filled with birds. God spoke and animals appeared. Now God forms man in His image. This one truth tells me that I am not God, that there is a creator and I am His creation. If I could just keep that straight--God created me, He created me for a purpose, He is God. 
  • God breathed life into man. Without the breath of God, there is no life. I think immediately of the pneuma or Spirit of God. This verse alone teaches me that without God, there is no life, only the appearance of life. There is a crime in Tennessee called leaving the impression of death--we usually think about this when a person tries to collect insurance by leaving the impression that they died. But without God, life is not real. I understand there is a TV show called the walking dead. People who do not know God in Christ are just that, walking dead--appearing to live but dead. This verse should motivate me to take the breath of life to others. 
  • God planted a garden. God didn't just give man life, He prepared a place for man to flourish and grow, to work and serve, to enjoy God's creation. This verse reminds me that all I have is a gift of a loving Father. He wasn't a Father who birthed me and then abandoned me. He prepared a place for me here. And from that, I understand that He has prepared for me a forever place with Him. 
  • God caused the garden to produce things that were pleasing to the sight and good to eat. This verse reminds me that I may work and labor, but it is God that causes things to grow. I am totally dependent on Him for the food I enjoy and for the beauty of the earth. 
  • God put man in the garden to cultivate and keep it. This verse reminds me that I am God's steward--the earth is His and the fullness thereof--He is the owner who has entrusted His garden to me. Knowing that changes how I think about and manage the things He blesses me with--His purpose and goals for His property, not my ideas or desires. With this view, I can have a generous heart.
  • God gave man commandments. Adam started with just one--don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Think about that. What if you only had one rule to follow? Well, God really gave more than one commandment. This one is a negative command--do not. But He had already told man to cultivate and keep the garden. My job has not changed---cultivate the garden, produce fruit--fruit of the Spirit and fruit in the form of those to whom I present the Good News. And do not try to be God--for that job is taken. 
Amazing that all I really need to know is in this short story of creation. Lord, help me live today as if I was in Your garden--for surely I am.

Blessings
Larry

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