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Genesis 2: 8-9 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden. And there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food. The tree of life also was in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

I noticed today that fall is in the air. My miniature roses are starting to recover from the intense desert heat of the summer and bloom again. They are beautiful and delicate. So many tiny blossoms on each potted plant on my patio. My little rose garden.

I read Genesis 2 recently and noticed something I hadnt seen before. Maybe its because this part of the bible is so familiar to me so I didnt pay careful attention to it. The LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight. He created something pleasant to our eyes. It wasnt enough that it filled our dietary need. He caused it to be pleasant to our senses. Our Lord is so loving to us, that He desired to create plants that would please our eyes. My roses are a gift from Him. Something He created to give me pleasure, to bring a smile to my face. Indeed every good and perfect gift is from Him.

Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be always with grace, having been seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

Nowadays using salt is considered bad for our blood pressure, but in ancient times, salt was valued, traded. A seasoning of worth. Salt is a preservative, something to prevent food from spoiling in a time when refrigeration was not available. In ancient times, salt was a symbol of covenant. Treaties ratified with salt were unable to be broken. In Leviticus, we see that the Levites were to season each sacrifice with salt. Indeed, the term for it was salt of the covenant of God. A covenant not to be broken. Mark 9:49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Everyone of us believers is in covenant with God through the blood of Christ.

So then what does it mean to have your speech seasoned with salt? We are under a covenant of salt with the Lord. All of our actions and words should reflect Him. He is glorified by what we do. Sometimes we are the only “bible” someone sees. Our words need to be spoken with the love of Christ. Our words should be given to us by the Holy Spirit when we witness. Our words are to be tempered, seasoned if you will, by our Lord. When we answer each one regarding the Blessed Hope we have in Christ, it should be His words we speak, words given to us by the Holy Spirit, spoken gently in love. Seasoned with salt.

Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the seat of the scornful.

With this poetic line, the psalmist shows a progression towards sin. At first, the man might casually walk with the ungodly, then he might willingly stand with the sinners, finally to sit comfortably with those who mock God. Each step becoming more rooted in the ways of sin. Each step identifying more with the sinners than with the Lord.

Think about the image of a boiling frog. If you bring a pot to boil and throw a frog into it, he will jump out fast. But if you put him in mild water and slowly bring it to a boil, he wont notice. The frog is desensitized to the changes in the temperature of the water. It is the same with sin. If you begin to hang around the lost in their sins, accepting their sins, well it doesn’t seem so bad. Progressively the sins you don’t notice become more serious until you are in danger.

How can you resist becoming desensitized to sin? The psalmist supplies the answer. Psalms 1:2 But his delight is only in the Law of Jehovah; and in His Law he meditates day and night. Get grounded in the word. Be strong in your faith and hold fast to the precepts of the Lord. See sin as sin. Then you will be the “tree planted by the rivulets of water that brings forth its fruit in its seasons, and its leaf shall not wither, and all which he does shall be blessed” in verse 3.

(This is an older blog entry I have from another blog site of mine.)

From something I wrote a couple of months ago….

Today is the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. My city took in about 3,000 of the refugees, so the local newspaper did a feature about where they are now. They were poor, taken from their homes having lost everything they had. Placed in the southwest desert and expected to make a new life. Some rose to the occasion and are doing well. Many of them were not doing so well. Suffering from many trauma, health issues, running out of assistance, living on the streets etc.

The website for the newspaper allows people to post comments about the stories. There were about a dozen comments. Most of them were heartless. Comments like “These people are using this tragic event as an excuse to continue doing nothing. I feel no pity.” Another wrote “I feel nothing for these lazy sponges that complain they can’t get their lives in order. They were losers before the storm, they are losers after the storm and unfortunately, in life some people are incapable of being better then losers.” And still another “Is there anyway we can deport these Katrina parasites?”

Perhaps Im not much better. I havent contributed to them. I havent lifted a finger to help them out. I remember seeing them after the storm, at the local sports arena where they were housed for a couple of weeks. The poor we will always have with us He said. We are to help those in need. To love our neighbor as ourselves. In what way have I done that?

Hmm. This blog entry didnt turn out at all like I thought it would. Seems I need to do some careful examination of my heart.

Earlier this month, I read an article about Mother Teresa and the absence of His presence that she felt for years. She expressed in letters things I routinely hear from others. How they dont experience the Lord. How they dont hear Him. How they cant feel Him. They wonder, as she did, is He real?

There is a difference that I see. For too many today, feeling that spiritual drought often causes them to turn away from Him. To claim He isnt real. Or worse, to claim He doesnt deserve their adoration because they dont hear from Him.

Mother Teresa clung to Him even in her emptiness. She said “I want to love Jesus as he has never been loved before.” She also said “I accept not in my feelings - but with my will, the Will of God - I accept His will.” Even in her darkness when He seemed so far away, she placed Him first in her life. His wants, His will, before her own. That is a lesson we could all benefit from.