• Dene's Blog
  • About Dene
  • Contact Dene
  • Dene's Recipes
  • Dene's Books
  • Dene's Classbooks
  • Gallery
  • Recommended Sites
  • FAQ & Tutorial
  Flight Paths

Lying in the Pews

2/19/2015

0 Comments

 
Once when we were traveling we walked into a meetinghouse and tried to find a place to sit.  We were among the first to arrive but pew after pew was already filled with folded shawls, afghans, blankets, Bibles and notebooks.  The problem for us is that Keith must sit close enough to be able to read lips or the entire service is lost on him.  We are not bashful, so we finally moved aside a blanket and sat down.  The owner of the blanket either never arrived that morning or sat somewhere else.
    Now I do understand the problem.  By the time we load up two Bibles, a notebook, Keith’s hearing paraphernalia, my medications, two pairs of glasses, a magnifying glass, a purse, and two jackets I feel like we are moving every Sunday.  It would be nice to have two sets of everything and leave one right where we usually sit.  If I were alone and older, it would be nice not to have to carry so much.  However, suppose we had been visitors from the community that Sunday and felt like we were not welcome to sit wherever we chose because practically every seat was “taken?”  A few is not a problem, but maybe we should take a look at the buildings we all meet in and make certain that only a few places appear to be “saved” for someone besides an interested and, we hope, welcome visitor.  
    Sometimes we leave something much more important in our pews than a Bible or a blanket—our faith, our good behavior, and our desire to operate under the authority of an Almighty God.  
    Only on Sundays do we think of anyone else, and only the ones announced.  The rest of the week we are too busy.  Only on Sundays do we stand up for the truth.  The rest of the week we don’t want to cause a fuss.  Only when it involves those “five acts of worship” do we look for the authority of God to act.  The rest of the week it never crosses out minds that the same authority will tell us how to live and make important decisions.  Only on Sunday are we careful how we approach God, forgetting entirely that we are in His presence every minute of every day.
    So what did you leave lying in the pew last Sunday?  Be sure to take it home with you this week.

Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?” Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins -- you who afflict the righteous,  who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate. Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said, Amos 8:4-6; 5:11,12,14.

Dene Ward

For help with this blog, click on FAQ and Tutorial on the left sidebar/
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Author
    Dene Ward has taught the Bible for more than  forty years, spoken at women’s retreats and lectureships, and has written both devotional books and class materials. She lives in Lake Butler, Florida, with her husband Keith.


    Categories

    All
    A Wives Series
    Bible People
    Bible Study
    Birds & Animals
    Book Reviews
    Camping
    Children
    Cooking Kitchen
    Country Life
    Discipleship
    Everyday Living
    Faith
    Family
    Gardening
    Grace
    Guest Writer
    History
    Holiness
    Humility Unity
    Materialism
    Medical
    Music
    Prayer
    Psalms
    Salvation
    Trials

    Archives

    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly