May 23, 2019
Dear friends, Yesterday was our daughter’s birthday and we were able to see her by using Facetime on our phone. When Candace was born 25 years ago, I remember that it was hot enough that the hospital workers opened a window in the birthing room. I don’t remember if we had a cell phone at the time. While Karen was in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, I met our next-door neighbour, whose daughter-in-law gave birth to a girl. Our daughter moved to the U.S. after she married Richie in 2017 and our neighbour’s granddaughter is now in Ontario.
When I was a boy, I loved to ride my red wagon and then my red bike (No, my first car was not red, it was yellow!). I would go to my friends’ places, parks, my grandparents’ house and the library. I loved to read biographies of baseball players like Willie Mays and Henry Aaron. In high school, I was fascinated with books like “Animal Farm” and “1984” by George Orwell, as well as “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain. I wondered what life would be like in the future, while trying to learn what people went through in the past and how their struggles helped shape them into the people they became.
We live in a world with lots of changes and much hustle and bustle, but how often do people think of what they should take on their spiritual journey? In his book “Traveling Light,” Max Lucado offers profound insights into what he calls “the luggage of life” based on his study of Psalm 23. Like Max shares in the opening chapter of his book, I took the pledge in Scouts to “be prepared” and carried this motto with me into adulthood. In preparing for my trip overseas with Operation Mobilization when I was 22, I packed my sleeping bag and clothes in a blue duffle bag, which seemed to get heavier as I traveled across Belgium and France. I put my Bible and a few other things in a back pack, which I tried to keep “light” but could probably have done better.
Last night, Karen and I watched a movie called “Patrick” about a lovable pug and his owner, who enters a 5 kilometer race, while in her first year of teaching high school in England. Max Lucado writes about a different kind of race than what the movie portrayed: “What’s true in jogging is true in faith. God has a great race for you to run. Under his care you will go where you’ve never been and serve in ways you’ve never dreamed. But you have to drop some stuff. How can you share grace if you are full of guilt? How can you offer comfort if you are disheartened? How can you lift someone’s load if your arms are full with your own?”
In an Old Testament Survey class at church, we have been studying the book of Exodus this month. The Israelites knew when it was time to move because the cloud of the glory of God lifted from above the tabernacle when God wanted His people to move. Today, believers have the Holy Spirit indwelling us and we should follow His leading.
Scripture for the weekend: “Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” Exodus 34:5-7a (NIV)
Thought for the weekend: “The book of Exodus is written to impress upon us a great New Testament truth: the glory of God lives in us and with us. This truth exalts us, energizes us, and exhilarates us. This truth also places a great responsibility on us. We need to continually remind ourselves to walk worthy of the eternal presence that indwells us. All of our thoughts, words, choices, and actions should be examined in light of the question, ‘Am I bringing honor or shame to God and His walking tabernacle, my body?’” – Ray C. Stedman (from his book “Adventuring Through the Bible”)
By His grace,
Steve