Thought for October 20

 History:

• 1097: First Crusaders arrive in Antioch
• 1803: Senate ratifies Louisiana Purchase
• 1944: MacArthur returns to the Philippines
• 1955: "Return of the King" published--Tolkien
• 1968: Dick Fosbury--flop--wins high jump in Mexico City
• 1973: Saturday Night Massacre--Richardson and Ruckelshaus resign after refusing to fire Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox
• 1975: Supreme Court says teachers can spank students after warning
• 1977: Three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd are killed in plane crash
• 2020: Justice Department sues Google for monopoly
• Born: Christopher Wren, Bela Lugosi, James Chadwick [neutron], Grandpa Jones, Mickey Mantle, Jerry Orbach, Kamala Harris, Snoop Dogg, 
• Died: Grace Darling [daughter of lighthouse operator who saved several following shipwreck], Eugene Debs [socialist union leader], Anne Sullivan [Helen Keller], Herbert Hoover, Burt Lancaster, Jane Wyatt, Muammar Gaddafi, Oscar de la Renta, 

Thought:

On Tuesday, Jan and I visited White Sands National Park. Amazing valley of sand dunes in the middle of New Mexico. Made me think about the number of grains of sand in the special place and recall the various passages in the Bible that used the sand of the sea as a description of an uncountable number. 

The descendants of Abraham are often numbered as the sands of the sea and the children of Israel counted that way. On the other hand, the armies of the enemies of Israel are are like the sands of the sea. The physical armies of the enemies are counted that way in the Old Testament and in Revelation 20, those gathered for the final battle with the returning Jesus are as numerous as the sand of the sea. 

There is a verse in Isaiah quoted in Romans which gets our attention. "Though the sons of Israel may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will be saved." How can that be? God responded to the obedience of Abraham and promised descendants that would number like the sands of the sea. God blessed those descendants, freed them from slavery, led them in the wilderness, brought them to a Promised Land. But only a remnant will return. God extended His invitation to the Gentiles, but only a few respond. 

And God pours out blessings on me like the sands of the sea, and yet I forget to be thankful and joyful. 

Seeing those shifting dunes of sand, moved by the wind and reformed in new places, I recalled another scripture--the foolish man built his house on the sand. And when the wind and rain came, his house collapsed. This made me think again about the foundation for life, my life. How often do I place my confidence and trust in things made of sand. I we revisit White Sands today, I will be different than Tuesday--wind and water will have moved the dunes, covered the road with sand to be plowed like snow. Reminds me again that relying and building upon the promises of this world means that everything changes-things that seemed secure yesterday are different today--my health, the stock market, relationships. This calls me again to build on the foundation which is Christ Jesus alone--He does not change, He does not move, and He never will. 

The sand dunes were beautiful, white against a blue sky, but give me the rock. 

Blessings,

Larry