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

February 26, 2025

LIFE IN THE FOLD

I recently finished reading through Exodus and have started Leviticus. I'm using a Bible plan this year where you read the Bible in chronological order; and these books happen back to back.... with Numbers and Deuteronomy coming next.

I will admit, that there are chapters towards the end of Exodus, as well as everything I've read so far in Leviticus, that are hard for me to get through. It seems so tedious and detailed and.... boring. I'm sure that there are people who find all of the tiniest of details and descriptions that are listed incredibly fascinating; but I'm not one of them. I love the stories about people and events, and find that I can learn from their lives. I've often wondered why God chose to put all of the descriptions and details found in these books, in His Word. I know that there were a lot of other things that happened that didn't make it into the Bible... so why this? What is the purpose?

The Bible reading program that I'm following for this year is called 'The Bible Recap'. The writer apparently feels much the same way as I do. She said to not get bogged down in trying to remember all of the fact and descriptions that you read, but just read it with the understanding that God is involved in all of the details. Details are important to Him.

There was absolutely nothing about building the tabernacle and the clothing for the priests and how to offer sacrifices that God wasn't involved in telling Moses exactly how they were to be made or done. He didn't leave any detail unknown or left up to guess work, but He gave very specific information about every single thing.

God even told Moses who the master craftsman was to be; the man who was skilled in all different areas and would be able to do all of the work with excellence. He even said who the assistant would be. God had those men chosen when He gave all of the instructions and details to Moses; who then passed down that information to those men. They were able to understand and follow them exactly as God had given them. I read all of those details on how everything was to be made, and have tried to envision in my mind how it would have looked, and just can't picture it. But Moses gave those very same instructions, that I've read over and over again, to the ones whom God chose, and they knew exactly what they were supposed to do and how things were supposed to look. And they made everything specific to how God had instructed!

Here is a modern day example: Jon has explained to me what he does at work, numerous times. He has explained various jobs to me, that he's worked on. I've even gone to his office and seen some of the panels that he has wired and programmed. When he is explaining the details to me, it somewhat makes sense to me, in that moment. But it's not anything that I've ever done, so I really have no understanding of how it all works. So as soon as Jon stops talking and we move onto something different, the information that he has just given me flees my mind. If someone were to come up to me later and ask me to describe, in detail, the job that Jon is working on, I would be unable to do so. In fact, I doubt that I would be able to tell them much of anything.

I find some of Jon's work projects fascinating. But I'd rather know what its purpose will be when it's completed. I get bogged down with any details of how it was wired or programmed or the process of getting it from start to finish. Even though I try to be interested, if the conversation goes on too long, after a while... well, it's kind of like reading Leviticus.... I get lost in all of the details and information.

Not understanding the exact details about Jon's different projects at work doesn't mean that I don't love him or care about him or don't want to listen to him talk about various projects he's working on. I want to hear what's going on at work and what he's doing. I enjoy our conversations. But we have much more in common than his job. There are lots of subjects that we can talk about that is of interest to both of us.

On the flip side, there are times when I'm going into detail about something that Jon has very little interest in or not knowledgeable about, and I see his eyes begin to glaze over. He will listen, because he knows that it's important to me, even though he may not understand or be interested in it himself. Again, kind of like reading through Leviticus!

It's the same with God. We may not always understand the things that He said or have interest in all of the details that He shared, but can still enjoy reading His Word and having that time together. We can still find that in all of the details, it shows that God cares about each and every aspect of what's going on. All of those tedious details are very precise and exact and shows that there is nothing that is unimportant or too small for Him to care about.

The same is true with our lives today. Sometimes what's going on in our life may seem tedious. Something is going on that we need to take care of, then we have something else come up that needs looked into, but before we finish those things, there are more things arise that need our attention. Details can feel overwhelming. But the truth is, we can talk to God about all of those details, because He is greatly interested. In fact, He can even help us with each and every one of them; because He cares about us and everything that concerns us.

God even cares about the mundane and boring things in our daily lives. Things that may seem unimportant or mindless to other people are of great interest to our Father.

We may try to talk to someone about all of those things that we are dealing with, and to them... it's kind of like reading Leviticus. It's not that they don't love us or don't care, but they don't truly understand what we're going through, so it's hard for them envision it in their mind.

While reading the Bible, there are those nuggets of truth and stories of interest and life lessons mixed in with all of those other details, that we would miss out on, if we didn't read the entire thing. If we skipped over parts of it, we might miss out on something that we need that will encourage or help us.

In life, we can't skip over those times when things are boring or tedious or detailed. It's during those times that we learn just how interested God is in everything that concerns us. We see just how interested He is in all of the tiniest of details of our life. And thrown into the mix, God will bless us with gifts and surprises and nuggets of truth that encourages us and gives us hope and builds our character.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

In Luke 12:6~7 and 22~34, Jesus explained how God cares for the sparrows, ravens, lilies, and even grass, then went on to say that He even knows how many hairs we have on our heads. He also explained that we shouldn't fret or worry because He cares even more for us.

It's hard to fathom how He can know all about us, even down to the number of hairs, and about each and every one of us. He cares about us that much. Not a single one of us are just one of those people in this city or that state. To Him, we are each important enough to know everything about. That's pretty amazing. And knowing everything about each of us, He still wants a relationship with each one of us. That is incredibly amazing.

ON THE MENEWE:

Make Ahead Muffin Melts

Combine chopped hard-boiled eggs and all other ingredients; except English muffins. Fold gently together. Cover and store in refrigerator overnight, or until cooled.

Spread generously on English muffin halves and place on a baking sheet.

Place under a broiler for 3 to 5 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Don't set too close to the heating element or overcook.

Serve immediately.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

I ran across this memory from November 2013. Winston is now 18-19 years old and in his first year of college.

This is a story shared by my nephew regarding his 7 year old son:

"Yesterday Winston helped me unload some firewood. He was all excited about doing boy work and had his gloves on. He did a good job stacking the firewood. When we were finished, I handed him 50 cents and told him how good he had done. He just stared at me. I asked him, 'What?!' He said, 'Dad, you need to give me $1.50 more.' I asked why. Winston said, 'Because $2.00 is the best I can do for that much work!' I figured if he could negotiate his wages at age 7, that was worth the $1.50. I gave him $2.00 more. I love it when he does well to argue his point!"

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Never stop praying for people.

If God places someone on your mind, pray for them.

A prayer can change someone's life. Remember that. - TobyMac

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org