Musings From A Rolling Eyed Turtle

Memorial Day, a day on which those who died in active military service are remembered.      There are many symbols for death and remembrance.  One is a tombstone.  Typically, the deceased’s name is inscribed on the tombstone along with the date of birth and the date of death.  For many of those who died in active military service, their sacrifice is so noted on the tombstone.   In Revelation 21:4, there are four things that pass away.  Perhaps separate tombstones could mark each one, but I’ll mention them individually:       1.       Death will be no more. 2.       Mourning will be gone. 3.       Crying will cease. 4.       Pain will no longer exist.    These things will pass away because the One who sits the throne is making all things new.  (Rev 21:5).   Even if there was a tombstone to mark such things, it would not be a memorial linked to something we miss.  It will be a celebration tombstone showing that the old order of things passed away!     

Death was written all over it.   Not just death, but stoned, the 1 st century kind.   The kind with rocks being thrown at you until you die! The woman had been caught in the act of adultery and the religious leaders were bringing her before Jesus to see what He would do.   According to the Law, she was to be stoned.   But the religious leaders weren’t really that interested in carrying out the law.   They wanted to catch Jesus in a trap.   They wanted him to say or do something in direct violation of the Law.   Then He couldn’t be who He claimed to be. But Jesus, knowing their intent, confronted them with the issue of their own sin.   “If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her”.   Ouch!   If any of them picked up a stone, they would immediately show themselves to be hypocrites.   None, even the most religious, was without sin.   No one dared to pick up a stone.   The oldest leader, and presumably the wisest, left first.   Then one by one

Treasure usually denotes value or worth.  It also includes regarding or treating as precious. When I was growing up, one of my treasured possessions was an 1864 two cent coin.  It wasn’t worth all that much at the time but I had hope that one day it would increase in value and I could sell it and make a fortune. In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, we find that the Lord has a treasured possession:  “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.  The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession.”  (Deut 7:6) A New Testament corollary is found in 1 Peter:  “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”  (1 Peter 2:18-19) We are considered by God to be such a treasured possession that He redeemed us

In a world that constantly changes, what can we hold on to for stability?   “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul…” (Heb 6:19) An anchor, by one definition, is a heavy device dropped by a chain, cable, or rope to the bottom of a body of water for restraining the motion of a vessel.   For larger vessels, it’s not the weight of the anchor that prevents the vessel from moving; it is the shape of the anchor that allows it to lodge itself into or against something immovable to prevent the vessel from moving. But what is the immovable that the anchor of the soul should lodge against?   There are actually three in Hebrews 6: God’s purposes are immovable since they are unchangeable (Heb 6:17).   God’s promises are immovable since it is impossible for God to lie (Heb 6:17-18). Jesus is a person who is immovable since He became a high priest forever (Heb 6:20). This anchor of the soul, in the shape of hope, must be dropped by faith, to lodge itself into