I think God has been planting seeds along my road today. Read a lot, listened to some Jewish wisdom on the OT (almost grasped the point of the lesson – still pondering), had some fantastic FB discussions, planted seeds with the grands, got lots of hugs from my “after school” students who missed me last week (due to daughter’s visit and ice storm), watched a very scary documentary on the Ukraine and Russian history (did you know Russia tortured and killed more than 7 million Ukrainians prior to WWII?), and listened to some great music via FROZEN and some classical vocal works. It makes me wonder why God was planting seeds today,how these seeds are going to grow and what they will look like when they mature?
Socrates was a philosopher/teacher. The fact that we know about him at all is due mostly to his students who carried what they learned with them into their adult lives. He would use questions to help his students gain confidence in their knowledge and gain a basic insight into the subject itself. Have to admit, I used it quite often in my classroom. Rabbi Jesus used it as well. Read through the stories and just see some of the questions He asked. The one that sticks in my mind is when He answered a question with a question: “”Why are you thinking (reasoning/questioning) these things in your hearts?” Lk 5:22. It was a Socratic question. It was a question that those of us who live by faith must answer everyday when we make a choice to take a step, stand still or reach out because for every choice (step) there will be consequences.
Today’s Jewish devotion was on Aaron’s sons. It is one of those OT stories that Christians don’t really ever understand. Why were Aaron’s sons killed because they brought gifts before God in the new tabernacle? The God who sent a new covenant to his people in the form of Jesus would never do such a thing. We don’t understand it because we don’t have the Talmud (Jewish oral traditions/wisdom) that helps explain it. There is a complicated wisdom to all of this, but to simplify it (correct me if I’m wrong, James Switzer), God created a garden where He and Adam and Eve could meet and spend time. Great place till Adam and Eve decided to try to improve everything by eating an apple and going against God’s directions. Dire consequences…Garden locked away and Adam and Eve kicked out Next time God let man build a special place (tabernacle) so that they could meet and again – with special directions for the meeting. Aaron’s sons tried to improve the prescribed way of meeting by doing it their way. Dire consequences again – dead sons, carried out of the tabernacle. But lets take it one step further – God built the first meeting place; man built the second meeting place, the first temple and the second temple (3 tries – tabernacle hidden away/temples destroyed/many killed) -all ending in dire consequences. What if God sent the final meeting place in the form of His son, and His son paid the dire consequences for all of us? A meeting of the hearts – so to speak???
Another seed is planted, give it a little fertilizer-good weather and lots of prayer and watch it grow. Mom used to sing this song, and she loved Barbara Mandrell’s version, but I think mom sang it much better. =)
thoughtsong7 