Good morning,
I hope you are enjoying reading your Bible.
In this time of self isolation it is still easy to preoccupy your time and energy and mind on other things.
But I do want you to set apart a particular part of the day to reading your Bible.
The reason for that is simple.
It is one of the ways that God will speak with you.
While the Bible (Latin for Books or library) is a series of books written by humans, it has been inspired by God and you will be amazed at just how often God speaks to you from the pages into your situation that you are facing.
I am enjoying using the Discipleship series, written by my wife, Rev Janie French, which we are sending out to you every Wednesday.
This is a series which traces the time lines of the Bible and is starts with Genesis, the first book of the Bible.
There are no dates that tell you when to read, so if you’re like me you might be a bit behind.
Anyway, this morning I was reading Genesis chapter 3, the story of sin entering the world, and I was made very aware, I believe by God, of the word ‘blame’.
Blame is something that happens when we are fearful and mainly fearful of being caught.
This chapter is full of blame, that is, blaming someone else.
When God speaks to Adam, he blames his wife; when God speaks with Eve, she blames the snake.
This made me think of the many times that I have blamed someone else for what I had done, just to escape the punishment.
Of course, living in this Covid-19 pandemic, it is easy to blame.
Blame people who don’t keep the social distancing requirements, as well as blame people for hoarding or buying too much sanitiser, anti bacterial wipes and , of course, toilet paper.
But the story this morning from Genesis 3, made me pause and consider how I was to blame for the little things I am doing that cause hurt with other people.
It is interesting that, when we start looking at our own messes, we realise the needs to give people space in their own lives, so that they can clean up their messes too
Blaming others is passing the buck.
Didn’t JESUS say, before you attack someone for the splinter in their eye, you need to take the wooden beam out of your own.
God bless you
Ron