Our three grandchildren are two years old and under. Babies and toddlers have tiny hands. And it is with great joy that we get to, at times, hold their tiny hands in ours. “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem , because he was of the house and family line of David. He went to be registered with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him, and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” ( Luke 2:4-7) When Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us, he first entered the world as an infant. It would be reasonable for us to expect that Jesus, as a baby, would have had tiny hands. Since his earthly father was a carpenter, the cultural expectations at the time would have been for...
In my previous post, I wrote about how the Lord promised to give strength to Israel to go in and conquer the land. But the strength came from an unusual source, it came as they obeyed the words of the Lord: “Soon you will cross the Jordan River , and if you obey the laws and teachings I'm giving you today, you will be strong enough to conquer the land.” (Deut 11:8) I also wrote that we are not part of those to whom that strength was given in order to go in and conquer the land. Nonetheless, it is important to obey God’s word. We can see that from the opposite, that is when we disobey, our strength can be dried up: “ For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up.” (Ps 32:4) Normally, in order for our bodies to function properly and effectively, we need fuel and that fuel is food. And without the fuel, we would have no strength. Yet there is a food that is necessary, not just for strength, but for life: “...