Shade Tree Wisdom 8/19/10

So, I left a rug we have in the garage in the driveway to really dry out. It was nice and dry, I left it out, and it rained nicely last night. Well. Hey, we retirees have our troubles too, you know. You are not alone at all.

I spoke of The Way. Jesus said to His disciples when they asked, “How can we know the way?” John 14,5. Jesus’ answer that resonates through the ages and rings true still was, “I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE, no man comes to the Father BUT by ME.” John 14,6.

That sounds simple enough, does it not. Here is the blueprint, the map, just follow it, and you will come to the Father.

That way has many ramifications. Since we are living in the world, and have a life to live here, we have to deal and tussle with various kinds of problems along the way. One example that shows us this is the life of Abraham. (Genesis 12 – 25 or so). The moment I am looking at is in chapter 22. We read that “God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, behold, here I am.” And the answer is that he should take his only son, the son who was born according to God’s promise, and sacrifice him on Mt. Moriah.

This story has gripped the imagination of countless Christians and forced them to come to grips with the mystery that is God. There is so much here we simply cannot comprehend. Much that defies our imagination and refuses to fit our expectations. We question, how can God, who notes the death of a sparrow, order this? How can He go back on this miracle-born Isaac, born of promise, born to joy? There is nothing here, the story is just essential, without explanation.

An answer lies in what St. Paul wrote about Abraham. He said, “Abraham, believed God, and he counted it to him as righteousness”. (Romans 4,3) God’s very first to Abraham in chapter 12,1 was “Go”, and he went. He was on The Way. Along the way had had many tests, and failed some, with Gerar, and the king of Egypt, but he learned also. And when we come to Moriah, Abraham hears God’s “Go”, and he goes. No question, no argument, no hesitation, he obeys, and that is faith.

And the Jesus Way can by done only this way. We obey His Word, even when we find it hard to understand, or difficult to do because we live in a world that sneers at such obedience. That is what Abraham teaches us.

I pray it helps us walk the Jesus Way in our life too. Often hard to do, sometimes it even seems to make no sense, but God’s is the way God blesses. Walk it with me, and let us march together.

GPD 8/19/10