Count the Towers

This afternoon I was thinking about some very special friends who are expecting, and the babies are due soon. I think of the joy of parenting. I think of the instructions God gave us in His Word about how to raise children.

One of my favorite passages is Psalm 48:12-14. It tells of the Jews visiting Jerusalem. They are commanded,

12 Walk about Zion,
And go all around her.
Count her towers;

13 Mark well her bulwarks;
Consider her palaces;
That you may tell it to the generation following.

14 For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide
Even to death.

God wanted the Jews to notice what He had done for them, how He had established their city. Then He wanted them to go home and tell their children the details. Count the towers, remember each little thing, tell your children "This is God, our God forever and ever."

I read this one day as we were driving through the beautiful hills of our state. (Don't worry -- I was not the one driving.) I may never visit Jerusalem, but I serve the same God. Do I pay attention to the beauty of His creation? Do I notice everything God does for me? Do I record the details? Am I excited to share with the next generation the might and goodness of our God?

Psalm 113:3 (NKJV)

From the rising of the sun to its going down
The LORD’s name is to be praised.

Ecclesiastes and Bicycle Wheels

Do you ever feel like life is pointless? You get up in the morning, make the meals, do the laundry, clean the house, and go to bed, satisfied with a day's work. Until the next morning, when there are more meals to make, bigger piles of laundry to do, and the house somehow got dirty overnight. Are there goblins that sprinkle dirt around while we sleep?

I face this dilemma all the time in practicing. I was feeling good about the progress that I made on the music for our orchestra's pops concert until a message popped into my inbox that the music for the following concert was ready to be picked up. Now I'm back at the beginning!

Eccleseastes 1:5-6 captures this so well: "The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose. The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit" (NKJV). Does everything go in circles?

Then I decided life is like a bicycle wheel. Imagine being a point on the wheel. This poor point thinks his whole job in life is to get to the top of the wheel. He finally succeeds. But he falls down. He tries again. He falls again. Will it never end?

But the person riding the bike sees the road. Progress is made. That poor point on the wheel might not be able to see the road. He doesn't know where the road goes. But he trusts that there is a purpose in his circles.

When we let God steer our bicycle, He leads us down an eternal road. So I faithfully do my circles. I know there is a purpose in the end.

The Answer

Sunday's Bible Trivia Question
What verse comes immediately before Deuteronomy 6:6-7, "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.'"

The Answer (Congratulations to Jessica, who got this right)
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." (NKJV)

Ever notice how we talk constantly about the things we love? I'm passionate about children's ministry. If you get me talking about how to pass our faith to the next generation, beware -- I might not stop talking.

But we must never take Deuteronomy 6:6-7 apart from verse 5. My talk about God must flow out of a whole-hearted love for God, or my students will miss the point.

I promised you that Sunday's question was not actually a trivia question. Trivia doesn't matter. Sunday's question matters because it has two bigger questions behind it. Am I daily growing in my love for the Lord? Does it show?

Trivia Question

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." (NKJV)

Question: What verse comes immediately before this passage?

This isn't actually a trivia question. There's a point to it, but I won't tell you right now. I enjoy leaving you guessing. Check back in a day or two, and I'll post the answer. =)

The Flower Fades

When I said on Monday that "sermons about the lilies of the field can wait until another day," I did not intend for my very next post to be a sermon about flowers. But that's what God laid on my heart during my devotions this morning. Oops!

I've been working to improve my photography skills. I really want to take pictures of clouds. A dear friend of mine has gotten me addicted to cloud watching. But I'm still struggling with controlling the exposure of those pictures so I'm also photographing flowers.

One of the hardest things in getting a good close-up of a flower is finding a flower that's perfect enough for a close-up. Maybe that says something about our flower-gardening skills. Double oops!

Reminds me of I Peter 1:24-25, "Because 'All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever'..." Our life on earth is like a flower. It's gorgeous for a while, and God wants us to enjoy its beauty. But we know it will fade quickly.

So the next time you see a yucky flower (like the picture I'm posting here), thank God that we have "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away reserved in heaven for [us]" I Peter 1:4.

A Heartbeat Away

“Wonder is only a heartbeat away from worship” (Romancing Your Child’s Heart, p.215). Take time to bask in the wonder of God’s creation today. No need to moralize about it – sermons about the lilies of the field can wait for another day. Just enjoy God’s creation with Him. It is a priceless form of worship.