I was standing at my kitchen counter the other morning, waiting on my coffee to brew, and there was brilliant sunshine coming through the window. Even though things were very still, as I observed the shaft of light beaming down on my counter, I could see a bunch of dust particles floating in the air in front of me. I found myself thinking about how illuminating those rays of sunshine coming through the window were. If the day had been gray, and I had to rely on only my kitchen light, those dust particles wouldn’t have been visible. I wouldn’t have seen them or given them a second thought, even though they’re there, and I’m breathing them in constantly… but with the sun streaming through the kitchen, there they were – plain as day. It made me want to grab the air purifier from my bedroom and plug it into the outlet by the coffee maker!
The Bible talks about light quite a bit. Jesus called Himself the Light of the World (John 8:12) and said that whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life. Psalm 119:105 says that God’s Word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.
I love the way the physical is so often a picture of the spiritual. There is a whole lot of junk (read: SIN) in my life (dust particles, if you will) that often goes unnoticed. If I don’t see it, then it just gets to stay there. By the time it becomes visible, there is a massive layer of yucky stuff that has to be addressed. But when I consistently spend time in God’s Word, His light shines on the ugliness in my heart and He helps me to see the things that need to change, and how we can clean it up – together. The very nature of light is that it shatters the darkness around it.
What has God been teaching you lately? Has He used some common place thing in your life to make a point, or give you a beautiful illustration of His truth? I’d love to hear it!
I’ve been reflecting over the past couple of weeks on the events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection. It does my soul good to spend concentrated time considering what Jesus went through – and why – on my behalf. I know that it’s easy for me to become desensitized with the scenes… Jesus in the garden, Judas’ kiss of betrayal, the disciples scattering, the scene before Pontius Pilate, the scourging… you know the ones. We tell them so often – sing of them, even – that they become as familiar to me as an old sweater and, sadly, I grow as comfortable with them too. I lose sight of the brutality, the true weight of what happened, and that leads me to take it all for granted sometimes. I don’t want that, and so this year I’ve chosen to dive deeply into the truth. One of the tools that has helped me is a selection of readings by Michael Card: “A Violent Grace: Meeting Christ at the Cross” (thank you for the recommendation, Theresa!)
“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. The rich and poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all.” (Prov. 22:1-2)
Do you remember the story? Two whores in a brothel each bear a son, within days of each other. During the night, one of the boys dies. The mother then takes her dead child and swaps it with the living child of the other harlot, claiming the living child is her own. Upon waking, the other woman first takes in the dead baby in her arms (can you imagine?) and then realizes that he is not actually her son, but the other woman’s child. The two go before King Solomon, who orders that the child be split in two with a sword. The true mother of the child cries out and says the other woman can have the baby – only let him live. The king wisely discerns that she is the true mother of the child, because she was willing to give him up so that he could live. I’m telling you… the Bible is full of drama and intrigue! (1 Kings 3:16-28)
Ever get fed up with hypocrisy? Yeah. I totally get it. I usually have a tougher time accepting Christians who don’t act like Christ than I do dealing with the actions of people who don’t profess to know God. It’s the contradiction that makes me crazy… don’t say one thing and do another. Don’t claim to follow Christ when following your own agenda is really what’s most important to you. Ugh.
Jacob. It means “He deceives”. That’s the name he was given at birth, and he certainly lived up to it… from stealing his brother’s birthright to tricking his father into giving him the blessing meant for another, Jacob was a deceiver. Can you imagine being named after your sin? If every time someone called you, it was a reminder of your wretchedness? “Hey, liar… what’s for dinner?” “Oh, promiscuous one… do you need anything at the store?” No, thank you. But there was no escaping that for Jacob. At least for quite some time.
A Woman's Worth... 
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