Sun's finally come out! Pascal got enthusiastic and planted out the rest of his seedlings, but found he had to create new vegie patches to contain them all.
In our pastoral rôle we often feel that our job consists of planting: ideas, Biblical principles, encouragement ...
For example, in my Junior High School Sunday School group, we are looking at why the Bible is essential to our well-being - it's our instruction booklet, the lamp to our feet, our bread, a mirror for ourselves, a purifying fire, and the images go on.
We calculated how much time we spend in front of our different screens! then we calculated how much time we would need every day to read through the Bible in one year if it took just over 70 hours of reading to get through it (12 minutes a day). So our challenge for this week is to read one of the books of the Bible for 10 minutes each day. One of the teens chose Genesis, the other Revelation! Then they decided that I should read the Psalms!
I'm reading them in The Message. It's quite a different take - sometimes quite surprising, and I'm enjoying reading them this way. It's also very reassuring because given our current social context, I'm reminded how much the LORD is sovereign and that He will have the last word.
"God's business is putting things right;
he loves getting the lines straight,
Setting us straight. Once we're standing tall,
we can look him straight in the eye." Ps 11:7
"Up, God! Aren't you fed up with their empty strutting?
Expose these grand pretensions!
Shake them up, God!
Show them how silly they look!" Ps 9:17-20
And my prayer and desire: "I'm not trying to get my way in the world's way. I'm trying to get your way, in your Word's way. I'm staying on your trail: I'm putting one foot In front of the other. I'm not giving up."
Ps 17: 4,5
