Grown Grass
The grass is freshly mowed.
What a temporary enjoyment. It’s been trimmed and blown, too. It looks nice and I’m so content with it for this one little minute.
I’m going to sit in the pleasure of it. But, only for a moment. In less than one week, I’ll soon find myself restless and discontent with the sight of grown grass needing cut again.
Grass grows so fast. So does my discontent.
It’s like the short-lived satisfaction of an empty laundry hamper. Fleeting. Fleeting. It’s all so fleeting.
There is pure momentarily delight, but then grass grows and laundry baskets refill.
King Solomon, the wisest man in all the world who had all that anyone could ever want concluded, “What do people get for all their hard work? Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless, like chasing the wind. Everything is meaningless. Utterly meaningless.”
So life from a purely earthly perspective is meaningless.
The opposite of a king was the apostle Paul living in a Roman prison who stated that he had learned to be content with whatever he had.
So I think, contentment can be learned.
He said he knows the secret of living in every situation.
So I think, there’s a secret.
He determined it’s to do everything through Christ who gives you strength. It’s this same God who takes care of you that will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
So, it’s in Christ Jesus!
I want to be content to watch this grow.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-8
Philippians 4:11
Bandana Bandit
This little bandana bandit strutted on the court and professed, “I love cheating. It makes me win everyday.”
He snookered his little brother.
Wisdom straight from King Solomon 101 says, “What is gotten by cheating others will soon be gone.” I mean, proverbs aren’t promises but they are probabilities.
He’s only knee-high to a grasshopper, yet without God’s wisdom we can all be tempted by some kind of greed for some kind of gain.
The book of Proverbs has a purpose to teach this wisdom and discipline. It states, “through these, people will receive instruction in discipline, good conduct and doing what is right, just, and fair. These proverbs will make the simpleminded clever. Proverbs give knowledge and purpose to young people.”
I suppose it’s easier to master the mind to know things than try to rule our own heart to do things. But, Proverbs tell us this wisdom is better than silver and its wages are better than gold.
“Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight and understanding. Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden treasure. The Lord grants wisdom.”
That’s worth a lot.
It makes us win every day.
Proverbs 1:2-7; 2:2, 3:14
Matthew 11:19
250 Years
“Four score and seven years ago our Father brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
That’s all I have memorized.
When Abe Lincoln wrote this Gettysburg Address it had been 87 years since the birth of our new country.
That’s just one whole grandma.
I’m the grandma of these two little American girls dedicated to that proposition.
It’s now been 12 score and 10 years ago since the birth of our country. That’s only 3 whole grandmas.
If you look at the average lifespan of a nation it turns out to be just 3 whole grandmas.
Since the beginning of grandmas, we have had a history of the Lord telling us how to live one nation under God to lengthen its lifespan. None yet have. God modeled and instructed how to build a nation. And under the inspiration from the Holy Spirit, King David prayed for such a nation under God.
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is Your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Riches and honor come from You alone. You rule over everything. Power and might are in Your hand. It is at your discretion that people are made great and given strength. We thank You and praise Your glorious name. But, who am I and who are my people that could give anything to You. Everything we have comes from You and we give You only what You’ve given us. We’re here only for a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a shadow gone so soon without a trace. Even materials we’ve gathered all belong to you. I know my God that You examine our hearts and rejoice when You find integrity there. O Lord, make Your people always want to obey You. See to it their love for You never changes.”
This nation’s posture gave praise, bowed low, and knelt before the Lord.
We’re living here in this land. It’s only for a moment, as our grandmas were before us. The Lord examines the posture of our hearts. Let’s give praise, bow low, and kneel before the Lord.
May He rejoice and extend our nation to another whole grandma and another whole grandma.
Under God.
1 Chronicles 29
To Do
The first time that I ever set out to read the Bible I had this bright idea to start a “To Do” list. I got confused and thought the Bible was a self-help book listing things I ought to do. So, I began listing. Number 1. Number 2. Number 3. This turned into page 1. Then page 2.
They were all good things. So, I wanted to go on and on.
And, I did.
Well, I mean I did until the exhaustion of it all started leaving me so weary. I was feeling overcome with defeat. But, as I kept reading I kept adding until the pressure of my bright idea was more than I could bear.
Shew!
Think Type A and fill my name in the blank.
You can hardly trust us “me, myself and I” types. We easily fall prey to productivity no matter the cost.
But, there’s an opportunity cost to our decisions says every Economics class.
When in fact there is a process the good Lord uses to make us holy and set apart for His purpose, but it’s through a relationship of faith in Him. It’s being offered as free and the opportunity cost is the list of my frenzy.
In Galatians, Paul has to explain to rule keepers they can’t hold fast to the lists of laws they pridefully master. He says, “You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn’t God, for He called you into freedom.”
Christ came down to exemplify and extend His grace by putting to death our weak works and feeble efforts.
It’s what HE produces in you! Underscore He. Scratch out Me.
There is an opportunity cost to following Christ.
We have to give up our own exhausting yoke.
Jesus says, “Take my yoke. Let me teach you. I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
It’s His bright idea.
Galatians 5:4-8
Matthew 11:29