I was seeking last night for a word of encouragement from the Lord and He gave me this. Psalm 119:83 ? ?For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.? Bottles in Bible times were most often made of animal skins. In the smoke, they would dry out and lose their softness. Troubles to the saint are like smoke to the bottle. We cannot see the way to go and we dry out and lose our ability to adjust. But we still have the compass of God?s precepts. We must not forget them. They will keep us on solid ground even when we are in the smoke.
"When burdened with sins from 2006; just burn them up for a real quick fix." Martin Luther dealt with a Roman Catholic agent who sold indulgences with a catchy ditty. Perhaps the preceeding one might work for the new sellers of quick fix forgiveness. Thursday's "Wall Street Journal" revealed a growing trend in churches and the modern spiritual community. More and more congregations are meeting for a service in which they write the sins and failures of the previous year on a piece of paper. Then, in a heart uplifting ceremony, they burn the pieces of paper to symbolize the doing away of these sins and their readiness to face a new year clean and ready to do better. The ceremony is getting rave reviews from many religious groups.
Whilst sorting out my book case over the recent holiday period I was struck by just how many books I have that I've never read and got thinking about just how long it will take me to read them all. I guess if I did read them all I would never need to buy another book again.
