As you know from personal experience, we interpret the Scriptures through our own eyes first. That is part of the universal nature of God’s word. It applies to all of us regardless of where we find ourselves as Christians each day. So to that end, I was reading Luke 7:31-35 today as part of my morning quiet time with God. Remembering that as I read the Bible, my eyes provide the first interpretation of what I am reading.
The passage read:
"To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children."
Last night, I slept at a bad angle. So, early this morning, I woke with a tremendous headache. I could feel my heartbeat in head thumping over and over again. Groggily, I fetched 3 Advil from the bathroom and an ice pack from the freezer. Returning to my bed, wide awake because of the pain, I lay there until the alarm went off. Exhaustion my only friend. . .
So when it was time to get moving for the day, I was shall we say, a bit moody. I was careful not to take the moodiness out on anyone else. They were not at fault for my head and neck being pinched at a poor angle last night. This was something that I was going to have to deal with. I lay on our bed after Jennifer went to work, sulking because I knew that I had a lot to do today, and this headache was going to make that hard—if not impossible.
“Of all the days,” I grunted at Bianca as she snored next to me on the bed. She had not trouble falling back to sleep (Truthfully she never does. That little dog could sleep at the drop of a hat). But I was suffering.
So I arrive in the office and open my Bible to Luke 7 and read those words from above. . . I sighed. Bent my head down and back to try to help the headache abate. As I re-read the passage, my mind thought was: “Wow those are some cranky people.” That phrase sounded familiar to my mind as I started the day.
In this passage, Jesus describes a people who are unresponsive, cranky, or not in the mood. Like a moody teenage, mopping around the house, bored, and irritated, yet spurning all invitations and suggestions that might help. But that is a space we have all inhabited from time to time—today it was my turn to think in this way. I didn’t feel like celebrating God with me.
But the more time I spent considering this passage, the more I wondered, in the face of my moodiness, or my crankiness, or in my unresponsiveness as a Christian, what invitation to celebrate and give thanks might the Lord be making to me now? Sure my head hurts a bit, but God is with me. . . God is caring for me. . . God is at work here.
While I cannot control how I sleep, necessarily, I can control how I face each day. I have the choice to make excuses and/or to be moody, as I have the choice to notice how God is at work in my day and give thanks to God for that instance. I wonder what choice you will make this week?
Blessings
Rev. Derek
No comments:
Post a Comment