Noah's Sons

I've been thinking about Noah's sons and the licenses people write for themselves.

"And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him." - Genesis 9:20-24 KJV

It's funny how when we are uncomfortable (like when it is very hot) we can also become rude or irritable. We no longer hold the same standards of behaviour because our behaviour can be self-regulated and mankind after the fall can live in self-regulation.

Two of Noah's son's lived in pre-planned honour. No one had ever gotten drunk before. What Noah did had no precedent. There were no rules for what you do and don't do in that situation because it had never happened before but two of Noah's sons lived a life of gratefulness. Noah had saved the world by being obedient to God. These two men found the right thing to do. They didn't have rules with exceptions. They had grace.

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." - Genesis 6:8 KJV

Yes. So did these two men.

We can't always have a preplanned response but we can live in preplanned honour, love and forgiveness because that is what God has given us. That is how the Trinity lives towards one another and towards us.

In that attitude, we will 'find' a response and it will be one of covering and respect in an attitude of thankfulness.

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The Balance Of Abundance And Need

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble." - Philippians 4:11-14 ESV

I'm meditating on this passage today. I got here after reading some of my booklet and looking at verses quoted in the booklet but this passage is where I ended up. The booklet is about honor and this passage isn't quoted in the part that a was reading but some mornings are like that. What you study or read sparks something and brings you down a different path.

The writer is explaining the balance of hunger and contentment. He has learned how to endure the extremes of both because he always keeps a balance of both at all times. The flow is not hindered by a 'I have enough' or a 'I don't have enough' evaluation. Ability is given and there is a strengthening flow.

Bitterness and self-preservation are effectively removed from the equation.

If God adds people as companions it is a bonus. It is something to be grateful for. It is a grace gift and not a necessity or a prerequisite for joy.

As I think about these things I am refreshed with truth and my heart finds balance again. I am strengthened to live in gratefulness and longing. Stones of need can weigh down one side of the scale but as I am stirred up in gratefulness weights are added to the other side until both sides float in the air in balance.

I can do all things once God has rebalanced me. I see what I have been given as a grace gift when I am empowered again.

"...but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." - Isaiah 40:31 ESV

Yes. Because yesterday is not weighing us down and tomorrow is in God's hands. Today is a day of balance. Nothing is missing. We have all that we need to face the day. God is our strength. God has covered our past and His plan is our future. We can do all things.

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A Thanksgiving Day Thought (The High Road of Thanksgiving)

What does a person grateful to God do when faced with injustice?

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" - Micah 6:8 NKJV

My God sent His Son, who went willingly, to die on a cross to make a way for anyone to be reconciled to Holiness if they would just receive the gift of salvation purchased with the blood of Jesus.

Today is a day when we often list the things and people we are thankful for. It is beautiful. At the same time there can be real barriers between us and those things and people because of wrongdoing. We push injustice into the backround but hurt is there shaping our actions and reactions.

"For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 ESV

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 ESV

"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." - Galatians 6:14 ESV

So today we can be grateful citizens that do justly, love mercy and walk humbly. We can be grateful family members and friends who do the same.

The cross justifies and makes a clean 'just as if it never happened' emotional slate and turns us into people who will make sure we are not initiators of injustice happening again and again. The cycle ends with us. We don't pass it on.

Anger no longer fuels our fire. We burn with love and gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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