Thought for October 14, 2024

•  1066: Battle of Hastings
• 1322: Robert the Bruce defeats Edward II giving Scotland independence
• 1834: Henry Blair is the first black awarded a US patent--corn planter
• 1892: "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" published by Arthur Conan Doyle
• 1926: "Winnie the Pooh" released by AA Milne
• 1939: BMI [Broadcast Music] formed
• 1962: U-2 aircraft locate Russian missile launchers in Cuba
• 1964: Martin Luther King wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1968: First live broadcast from US spacecraft [Apollo 7]
• 1979: Wayne Gretzky scores first NHL goal
• 1979: First gay and lesbian civil rights march in Washington
• 1980: Reagan promises to name a woman to the Supreme Court
• 1986: Elie Wiesel wins Nobel Prize
• Born: William Penn, Dwight Eisenhower, EE Cummings, John Wooden, Roger Moore, John Dean [Nixon White House Counsel], Ralph Lauren, Beth Daniel, Frank Wycheck, Natalie Maines [Dixie Chicks],  Usher
• Died: Erwin Rommel, Errol Flynn, Bing Crosby, Leonard Bernstein, 

Thought:

Thinking about Jeremiah 2:20-22 this morning. God gives two pictures to the people through Jeremiah. First, He uses the vine as an illustration of what the people have done in their sin. Notice, He planted us as a choice vine, a completely faithful seed. We/they turned themselves into a degenerate shoot of a foreign vine. Think about that. God created us in His image to be His people and worship the creator and sustainer. Scripture says we are a chosen people and a royal priesthood. But we turned from God and His ways and pursued foreign gods, false gods, gods made by our own hands. And not only do we follow these false gods, we are degenerate. Look up that word--impure, degraded, corrupt, decadent, perverted, depraved, wicked. One synonym is "bastard." God created us to be His children but we have followed our own way. Reading this puts Jesus' parables into sharper focus. He calls Himself the True Vine and we are the branches. God had to send Jesus to get us reattached to Himself. 

The second picture is of a stain. Think about all the detergent ads you have seen--gets out grass stains, removes grape juice stains, just spray it on. When I opened a Brentwood law office in 1997, we needed furniture. We went to a showroom downtown. The salesman showed us a line from Paoli and he claimed that the surface would not be hurt by water, spills, etc. He even said you could put fingernail polish on it and it would simply wipe off. So he placed a lot of red fingernail polish on the desk I was buying. It dried and with a flourish, he tried to wipe it off.--oops, it would not come off. I can still see his panic. Water, nothing, soap, nothing, scrub, nothing. Finally he sent someone for acetone--and off came the stain without hurting the finish. In 2:22, God says that lye soap will not remove the stain of sin and guilt. 

A few weeks ago, we sang, "what can wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus." Over in chapter 3:14-18, God promises a day when He will send shepherds, the ark of the covenant will be forgotten because of a new covenant, and Jerusalem will be called the Throne of the Lord. This morning I am thinking about what kind of branch I am--faithful or faithless. And I am praising God for the only thing that washes away the stain of sin--Jesus.

Blessings

Larry