Category Archives: Devo Drops

Thoughts on daily devotional scripture readings

Streaking

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brewerFor the first time in five years, the Milwaukee Brewers opened the baseball season with a win, stirring up hope among the faithful for a promising summer.  Then they lost the next five games.  A week later the Brew Crew began a nine game winning streak, causing fans’ confidence to soar.  But it wasn’t long and the losses started piling up – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in a row.  This is what you call a streaky team.  For fans, it’s a roller coaster ride.

In comparison, the leaders of the division (the St. Louis Cardinals – boo!) have one stretch of wins (when they played the Brewers – yikes!).  Most of their season looks like this: L, W, L, W, W, L, W, W.  This is what you call a consistent team.  They lose some games, but win more. For fans, it’s a lazy river ride.

I think my spiritual life resembles the Brewers more than the Cardinals.  I am probably what you’d call a “streaky” follower of Christ.  (Also, I’ve been a streaky blogger, as of late.)   I am gung-ho when it comes to starting a new spiritual discipline, and tend to begin strong before falling into a pattern of fits-and-starts.  If the losses outnumber the wins, I’m tempted to throw in the towel on the whole endeavor.

At least I’m not alone.  In Psalm 119: 5 David wrote, “Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set.” (Message)  “Oh, how I want to follow consistently.” (Living Bible)

The beauty of both baseball and living a steady Christian life (and blogging)  is that every day is a chance for a new beginning.  Every game offers a fresh start — so does every inning……and every at-bat.  God assures us that His mercies are “new every morning” as well.  We just need to keep showing up at the park, keep stepping up to the plate, and keep swinging at the pitch.

I thank God for His steady, consistent love for me.  And for a fresh batch of mercies waiting for me every morning.

Forbidden Fruit (Loops)

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fruit loopsAnd the Mother took the Toddler and put him in the Kitchen of Nonnie to explore and discover.  The Toddler played happily in the tupperware cupboard and the utensil drawer for many hours.  Then the Mother commanded the Toddler, saying, “You are free to play in any cupboard in the kitchen; but you must not play in the cereal cupboard, because you will surely dump out the boxes onto the floor and get your first taste of sweetened cereal which the Nonnie never bought her children when they were growing up.”  But the Toddler saw that the boxes in the cupboard were pleasing to the eye and desirable to taste, so he opened the door over and over and over.  Thus, the Mother had to repeat, “No, no” over and over and over.

The Nonnie stood back and marveled.  Making a law forbidding the cereal cupboard was an excellent idea.  What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making it a piece of “forbidden” fruit (loops). (Romans 7:8, The Message)

Even a one-year-old can demonstrate biblical truth straight out of Romans 7.

Milk and Honey

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He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.  Deuteronomy 26:9

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Over twenty times, the land promised to the Israelites was referred to as “a land flowing with milk and honey”.  Now I know why.  They were a new-born nation — babies in their relationship with God.  They needed milk, with a little honey added in for sweetness.

Back in the desert days, the people yearned for their old Egyptian fare.  In a classic case of selective memory they wailed, “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost.”  (Sure, food was free — but they weren’t.)  “Also, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.” (I can understand them missing the taste of fresh melons, but leeks and onions?)

God didn’t entice His new nation to Canaan with the promise of pickles and garlic.  Oh, no.  Milk and honey was on the menu because God knew that’s what they needed.  It wasn’t a land flowing with steak and potatoes, burgers and fries, or beer and brats.  Wholesome milk with a touch of honey — perfect for a young community.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Psalm 34:8

Milk

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“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that you may grow up in your salvation.”  1 Peter 2:2

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Newborn babies have one thing on their minds — milk.

They crave it, they cry for it, they live for the next feeding.

When they are hungry, their miniature mouths open wide as they frantically search for the source, then land it and guzzle like there’s no tomorrow.

They suck with all their might, jaw muscles pulling, drawing, tight and strong.

Milk is what they desire — milk is what they need.

Without it they would die.

So they cry out every few hours for more and more and more.

Elijah and Eleanor inspire me.

I watch their single-minded intensity and I am envious.

To want something so desperately and to be so completely satisfied by the nourishment it gives —

they are teaching me how to love God’s Word.

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They also are reminding me that newborns require regular feedings and must be treated with gentleness and patience.

Neediness, dependence and messiness is to be expected.

Developing into a grown-up takes time.

May we give those newly born into faith the same kind of nurturing care.

Easter Beans

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jelly beansWhen I was a kid, I don’t remember hunting for a basket full of candy and toys at Easter time.  Instead, my mom hid jelly beans all over the house and I would spend most of the afternoon looking for the little gummy treats.  Maybe my parents didn’t want the sacred holiday to be overshadowed by the Easter bunny.  Or maybe sending me off to fill my own basket was a sure way to keep me occupied on a Sunday afternoon.

I was pretty good at searching out the sweets and always had plenty.  However, when my cousins came to spend a few weeks in the summer and we pulled out the hide-a-bed, inevitabley there would be a sticky bean under the cushions.  And in the fall, when I needed to look up something in the encyclopedias for school, a sneaky bean would roll off the top book shelf.  In December, when we moved the furniture around to make room for the Christmas tree, a rogue bean was usually found behind the piano.  It was like Easter kept showing up all year long, in the strangest places.

As I journey through the Bible this year, I’m finding that Easter still pops up in unlikely places.  In Exodus: “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.” (Exodus 6:6 )  In Leviticus: “It is the blood that makes atonement.” (Lev. 17: 11)  In Psalms: “They have pierced my hands and feet.” (Psalm 22:16)  In Isaiah: “He bore the sin of many.”  (Isaiah 53:12)

Easter isn’t just a nice springtime holiday with yummy treats.

The resurrection of Jesus carries over into every day, all year long.

Like my jelly beans, the Easter story keeps springing up.

Keep up the hunt.

Holy Week

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There I was, thinking about how it’s already Holy Week…..

and I hadn’t even given it much thought.

I hadn’t contemplated the bread and the wine….

I hadn’t kept watch in the garden….

I hadn’t walked the Via Dolorosa.

There I was, thinking that Easter was creeping up on me

and that I might miss it this year.

I was wrong.

I have been experiencing Easter Life to the full.

Here I am, witness to life bursting forth from the dark womb.

Here I am, staying awake into the night to watch and pray.

Here I am, washing the feet of my daughter, serving her needs.

Here I am, holding in my very hands life — downy soft, sweet smelling life.

Indeed, this has been the holiest of Holy Weeks.

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Easy Button

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easy buttonI have an Easy Button on my desk.  I push it sometimes just for fun.  “That was easy!”   People can’t seem to resist the big red disk.  Almost everyone who comes into my office gives it a try.

“Easy” is a popular topic.  Amazon has 171,584 books with the word “easy” in the title.  “Easy Weeknight Dinners”, “Easy Weight Loss”, “Medical Surgical Nursing Made Incredibly Easy”.  Wait…what?

The only time Jesus said something was easy He was discussing yokes and burdens.  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30.

By the end of most days, I qualify as weary and burdened.  Rest sounds good.  Real good.  I’m all for an evening in the recliner (also known as an easy chair), watching TV and drifting off by 9 o’clock.  Ok…..8:30.

That’s why the next thing Jesus says is so jarring.  Take my yoke.  Weren’t we just talking about rest?  Isn’t a yoke an implement used in work?  I picture two oxen trudging through a field, collared by a heavy wooden bar across their shoulders, pulling a disc that turns over crusty, stony ground.  It’s a dirty, sweaty scene — a far cry from my la-z-boy.

Jesus turns the whole idea of rest and work on its head.  Resting isn’t the absence of labor — resting is yoking up with Him.

There’s an old Jewish legend that says the carpenter’s shop in Nazareth was known for making exquisite yokes.  They were custom made to fit perfectly and finely balanced so as not to be cumbersome.  Easy yokes to make light burdens.

Is it time for a trade-in?  Your yoke for His?

Little Debbies

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little debbieI used to love Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls. When I was nine years old I bought a box of them, went into my room, shut the door and ate every last one.  After that, I didn’t love them so much.  In fact, I never ate one again.  Even decades later I have no desire to peel off the outer coating, unroll the cake and lick off the cream filling.

The desert wanderers had begun to turn up their noses at the manna God was providing each morning.  Some sat inside their tents reminiscing about the free cucumbers in good ol’ Egypt while others stood outside their tents wailing, “Give us meat to eat!” (Numbers 11:13 NIV)  I had to commiserate with the Hebrew children when they yearned to have a morsel of meat.  All they wanted was to take a side of beef into their tent, shut the flap and eat the whole darn thing.

God took care of their cravings — He blew in quail from the sea.  The birds kept coming and coming until quail meat was three feet deep and spread out as far as the eye could see.  Each person gathered about 60 bushels of fresh poultry….the first day.  The Lord said, “You are going to eat meat for a whole month.  You’re going to eat meat until it’s coming out of your nostrils.  You’re going to be so sick of meat that you’ll throw up at the mere mention of it.” (Numbers 11:20 Message)  God certainly knows how to make a point.

This episode was not forgotten.  The Psalmist was still writing about it hundreds of years later.  “They lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tested God in the desert.  And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls.” (Psalm 106:14-15 KJV).

If I get bored with the life He gives me and start craving something else, I’m on dangerous ground.  God takes my dissatisfaction personally.  If I insist, He will let me gorge myself on the world, but such a feast will ruin my appetite for Him.  I don’t want to face my God with Little Debbies coming out of my nostrils and emptiness in my soul.

Lovin’ Leviticus

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LeviticusI’m serious.  I found a way to love Leviticus.

Leviticus is the third book in the Bible.  It is wedged between the Exodus drama of the parting of the Red Sea, and the intriguing talking donkey and snake-on-a-stick episodes in Numbers.  Leviticus is a tough read with lots of strange rules and regulations.  It’s not my favorite book by a long shot.  But I wanted to do more than just “gut” my way through it this time.  So I found a way to love Leviticus.

After reading the first chapter I prayed, “Thank you, God.  Thank you that I don’t have to bring a bull to church, slaughter it and have PB splash the blood onto the altar.  Thank you, Jesus, for putting an end to all that death by dying.”

Having completed the chapters about the Burnt Offering, the Grain Offering, the Peace Offering, the Absolution Offering, and the Compensation Offering, I thought, “Whew!  Jesus covers it all!  What a relief!  Thank you!”

Following a riveting three chapters on infectious skin diseases and bodily discharges, I sang, “Halleluia!  He cleanses me from all unrighteousness!”

The detailed instructions for the Day of Atonement consisted of at least twenty-five steps for the High Priest to carry out.  There was a lot of blood involved.  I whispered, “Forgiveness is mine, just for the asking.  I’m so thankful.”

I’m loving Leviticus!  It’s making me appreciate Jesus more and more.

Wrestling Revisited: Reversal

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The main event in Genesis 32 is the wrestling match between Jacob and God. (See last post.)  But there is a long back-story involved here.  Isn’t that usually the case?

When Jacob swiped his older brother’s birthright and inheritance, Esau was pretty ticked.  In fact, he planned to kill his brother — so Jacob made a run for it.  The stolen birthright came with a cost — Jacob didn’t see his family for twenty years.  Did Jacob spend those two decades looking back over his shoulder, staying alert, bracing for his brother’s wrath to catch up with him?

Then one day Esau was seen on the horizon, approaching with 400 marching men, headed toward Jacob’s camp.  What was Jacob to think?  It didn’t look like a friendly family reunion in the making.  He sent his wives and children out ahead (nice move) along with wagon loads of gifts for his brother (worth a try).  Totally alone and stripped of everything he owned and everyone he loved, there was nowhere to run so Jacob finally faced his past and his fears.  The struggle lasted all night, but when the sun rose, Jacob had a new name (no longer Deceiver) and a humbler way of walking (a gimpy leg).

I don’t know what Esau had planned to do that day, but I think when he saw his twin brother limping toward him in the distance, he let his hatred go.  The Bible says Esau ran to Jacob, embraced him, kissed him and they cried together.  Maybe twenty years had mellowed Esau, or perhaps he’d had a wrestling match of his own.  What Jacob had dreaded most — the past that haunted him — came and embraced him with mercy and grace.  It was a holy reversal.

When I have regrets from the past or fears for the future I must lay them out on the mat and engage God in the struggle.  Then, what is looming large on the horizon, may just be the very thing that arrives with surprising mercy and grace.