Time Flies!
Wow, I can't believe it is already Thursday! It seems like it was just Saturday evening and I was trying my first blog post from my Moto Q. Ah well, such is life these days. To be honest, there hasn't been much bloggable news going on, so I'll just catch you up on the latest.
Work has been keeping me pretty busy. I've been working hard along with our new sales manager at work to maintain good sales numbers in the store, especially in regard to the electronics department. We are headed into the busiest time of year, (when is it not?) and looking towards the back to school season and then on into the holiday season.
I've been working on two lessons for Sunday School from the book of Ruth. The next two Sundays are already spoken for, so they don't have to be ready for three more weeks. That is actually a good thing, for they are requiring a lot of study!
One of them is on the nation of Moab, and how that nation represents the flesh (or is a "type" of the flesh). This is taking a lot of time, for there are numerous references to the flesh in the New Testament, and there are many stories and illustrations of Moab in the Old Testament. I am studying to see the correlations, similarities and differences. It is often said that there are three enemies of the Christian: the world, the flesh and the devil. As I continue to study, I am becoming more and more convinced that the flesh is the most potent enemy for the majority of Christians. The world and the things in the world appeal to the flesh, and are therefore great distractions and hinderances to the Christian. Let us not flatter ourselves in thinking that we are so spiritual as Christians that we are personally being attacked by the devil. Our flesh and that which we reap from sowing to it are more often than not the "attacks" we face, though this is not to say that we are never the subjects of Satanic or demonic influence.
The second study has been on the possible route that Elimelech and his family took to go to Moab. The obvious barrier to going directly to Moab was the Dead Sea. One either had to travel north, around the upper portion of the Dead Sea, crossing over Jordan near Jericho, and then coming down through the territory which Israel had taken from the Amorites and had subsequently become the land belonging to the tribes of Gad and Reuben, or, one could travel around the south end of the Dead Sea, passing through Hebron, Arad, and along through the nation of Edom until coming to the borders of Moab. A study of this sort sounds more like the sort of thing that would be useful for a Bible Trivia game or maybe for a Bible geography paper, but I believe that the different cities that Elimelech and his family would have traveled through, be it the northern or the southern route, would have reminded them of specific events in Israel's history, both good (God's intervention) or bad (Israel's rebellion). I am looking forward to seeing what God has in mind in both of these studies.
Work has been keeping me pretty busy. I've been working hard along with our new sales manager at work to maintain good sales numbers in the store, especially in regard to the electronics department. We are headed into the busiest time of year, (when is it not?) and looking towards the back to school season and then on into the holiday season.
I've been working on two lessons for Sunday School from the book of Ruth. The next two Sundays are already spoken for, so they don't have to be ready for three more weeks. That is actually a good thing, for they are requiring a lot of study!
One of them is on the nation of Moab, and how that nation represents the flesh (or is a "type" of the flesh). This is taking a lot of time, for there are numerous references to the flesh in the New Testament, and there are many stories and illustrations of Moab in the Old Testament. I am studying to see the correlations, similarities and differences. It is often said that there are three enemies of the Christian: the world, the flesh and the devil. As I continue to study, I am becoming more and more convinced that the flesh is the most potent enemy for the majority of Christians. The world and the things in the world appeal to the flesh, and are therefore great distractions and hinderances to the Christian. Let us not flatter ourselves in thinking that we are so spiritual as Christians that we are personally being attacked by the devil. Our flesh and that which we reap from sowing to it are more often than not the "attacks" we face, though this is not to say that we are never the subjects of Satanic or demonic influence.
The second study has been on the possible route that Elimelech and his family took to go to Moab. The obvious barrier to going directly to Moab was the Dead Sea. One either had to travel north, around the upper portion of the Dead Sea, crossing over Jordan near Jericho, and then coming down through the territory which Israel had taken from the Amorites and had subsequently become the land belonging to the tribes of Gad and Reuben, or, one could travel around the south end of the Dead Sea, passing through Hebron, Arad, and along through the nation of Edom until coming to the borders of Moab. A study of this sort sounds more like the sort of thing that would be useful for a Bible Trivia game or maybe for a Bible geography paper, but I believe that the different cities that Elimelech and his family would have traveled through, be it the northern or the southern route, would have reminded them of specific events in Israel's history, both good (God's intervention) or bad (Israel's rebellion). I am looking forward to seeing what God has in mind in both of these studies.
posted by Derek Linder at 5:23 AM
3 Comments:
Sounds like you're enjoying your studies and keeping plenty busy with things in between! Are you enjoying teaching Sunday School?
Hi Derek, I have to agree with you that the flesh is definitely our biggest enemy which we enable by claiming the Devil made me do it rubbish! It is time to die to the flesh as Paul declared in Galations 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, which is clearly dying to the fleshly nature. Good thoughts Derek, keep up your study:)
Thanks for the comments. Beck, I really do enjoy teaching the Sunday School class, and it is encouraging to get some feedback from the folks that they are enjoying it as well. I have a couple of weeks off, and then will be back at it, so I've been preparing lessons on Moab as a type of the flesh and "From Bethlehem to Moab." It's been good.
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