THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

October 18, 2023

LIFE IN THE FOLD

My 5-year old niece loves hiding treasures in my purse for me to later find. She doesn't do it every time I see her, but will randomly choose to do so. Occasionally, I will catch her in the act of slipping something inside my purse, but other times it has been a complete surprise. I've found a feather, doll comb, toy beaded bracelet, little colored rocks, string necklace..... Nothing of value, but small things that she finds that she can slip into my purse unnoticed.

I've tried giving those items back to her and she will say, "No! I gave them to you and want you to have them." If I happen to see her in the middle of the act, she will slyly smile at me and tell me that she is hiding a surprise for me. It's kind of become a game between us. She loves leaving these treasures for me to find and I love finding them and seeing what she has picked out to give me.

Proverbs 2:1-5: "My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver, seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God."

When I find those treasures in my purse, they have intentionally been placed there by my niece specifically for me. Even though she hides them, they are placed where I will find them when I look inside my purse. But they aren't always in the same place. I've found them inside a zipped pocket on the outside, slipped inside an open pocket on front, or somewhere inside. Unless I open up the pocket where she's put them, I'll never find them and know what's there for me to find.

God has wisdom and understanding for us to find. He wants to give us insight. It's available to us, but we have to search for them and seek them, as we would if we were looking for a hidden treasure. If those things are important and something we desire, God will give them to us.

But there are things that we will need to do in order to find them. First of all, we need to listen to what God says and treasure His commands. We will only know what those commands are through reading His Word. We can't treasure something we don't know about, or fail to read and learn what it is that we are to treasure.

Next we need to tune our ears to wisdom and concentrate on understanding. How do we tune our ears? Other versions say to make our ears attentive to wisdom. We have to pay attention to what we are hearing and listening to. If we listen to foolish talk, lies, deception, opinions, ungodliness...... that our ears are tuned to those things. Those are the things that will catch our attention and what we will listen to most. But if our ears are tuned to wisdom then we will be drawn to listen to truth and uplifting words. We will be tuned to those whispers and the still small voice of God; being able to recognize it.

When we concentrate on understanding, we will want to know what God is saying more than what people's opinions are. We will desire understanding and focus on what God is trying to speak to us and show us through those situations we are going through.

The instructions given to us next are to cry out for insight and ask for understanding. So many circumstances we go through that often don't make sense or problems where we need to know what to do. We can cry out for insight and ask for understanding. That doesn't mean that God will explain His ways to us or all the whys; but He can give us insight and understanding.

We are to search for them as we would for silver and seek them as we would for a hidden treasure.

If we knew that there was silver or hidden treasures in our backyard, would we say, "That's fine.... I don't need it; nor do I care what it is or how much it's worth!" We would do our best to find ways to locate it and uncover it, in order to reveal what was there. We would be excited to see just how much was hidden and how valuable it was.

How valuable is wisdom, understanding, and insight to us? Do we think it's worthless and has no value, or are we willing to seek for it?

Here's the reward of searching out those things: We will understand what it means to fear the Lord and gain knowledge of God!

Are we comfortable with just knowing God enough to get to heaven, but have no real desire to have a holy reverence of Him and gain knowledge of who He is? Sadly, that's the way it is for many people. It's like having a Father who wants to be with you at all times to take good care of you, and has good gifts to give you, and has so much wisdom and understanding if only you would listen, and has an indescribable inheritance prepared for you; yet all you're interested in is knowing His name and the inheritance.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

Much like the hidden treasures our niece leaves in Loretta's purse, there are many hidden gems in the Bible. It's good to read it all once, but that doesn't mean you should stop. Each time I read it, I find more connections that I had missed before. For example, when we read about Jesus being the Son of Man, that seems like such a simple thing. Aren't we all sons & daughters of mankind? But that phrase is also used in Ezekiel and Daniel, and carries a lot more meaning to it. The books of Kings and Chronicles overlap quite a bit. So after reading through one then the other, it may help to read the first one again right away to catch all the details. There are many examples like these. My point is that we should continue reading the Bible again and again. Each time, new gems will stand out.

ON THE MENEWE:

Apple Salad

Mix dry pudding and Cool Whip together. Add remaining ingredients and fold together. Refrigerate.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

I love going back to read old memories, because I often find stories that I had forgotten about. These are some memories I found from 2011. Jax is now 14, with both of these great-nieces are now 15 and 16.

Why is it that little kids (especially little boys) seem to have an inner instinct to pick their nose? It's definitely not something that's taught to them by their parents, but a nasty habit that they figure out for themselves. Jax recently turned two and has the nose-picking thing down pat. Recently, his mom saw him picking his nose and told him, "Jax, no-no!!" Jax looked at her with his big, bright, blue eyes and replied, "Yes. Funny!"

My great-niece is three, and for some reason, her parents cannot keep clothes on that child when she's home. They'll dress her and turn around and she'll have most of her clothes stripped off. She stripped completely down the other day and her mom told her, "Put your undies back on! We are not a naked family!" The response was, "But mom, I want us to be a naked family!"

I have another great-niece (also age three) who loves wearing swimsuits, regardless of the weather outside. She and her big brother used to go to daycare, and as soon as they got home in the afternoons her clothes would go flying as soon as she walked through the front door on her way up to her bedroom to put her swimsuit on. One day it was sunny but cold outside. Her parents couldn't find her and looked outside and there she was with her swimsuit on and no coat -- but she did have on a hat to keep her head warm! She also loves shoes and will change shoes a dozen times a day. And watch out if there are other kids around because if they take their shoes off, she'll put them on. Last summer we had a family gathering in Lampe and a couple other great-nieces were there and had taken off their flip flops. Lillian was wearing their shoes, and even had on two different shoes one time.

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalms30:5

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org