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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.

I felt weary the last day and found this in the bible. I thought I would share it with you, along with some commentary from Albert Barnes Commentary of the Bible.

2Thessalonians 3:13 But you, brothers, do not be weary in well doing.

The idea is, that they were not to be discouraged from doing good to the truly worthy and deserving by the idleness and improper conduct of some who asked their assistance. They were, indeed, shiftless and worthless. They would not labor; they spent their time in intermeddling with the concerns of their neighbors, and they depended for their support on the charity of others. The tendency of this, as all persons feel who have ever been applied to by such persons for aid, is, to indispose us to do good to any. We almost insensibly feel that all who ask for aid are of the same character; or, not being able to discriminate, we close our hands alike against all. Against this the apostle would guard us, and he says that though there may be many such persons, and though we may find it difficult to distinguish the worthy from the unworthy, we should not become so disheartened as not to give at all. Nor should we be weary though the applications for assistance are frequent. They are indeed frequent. God designs that they should be. But the effect should not be to dishearten us, or to make us weary in well-doing, but to fill us with gratitude - for it is a privilege to be permitted to do good. It is the great distinguishing characteristic of God that he always does good. It was that which marked the character of the Redeemer, that he “went about doing good;” and whenever God gives us the opportunity and the means of doing good, it should be to us an occasion of special thanksgiving. A man ought to become “weary” of everything else sooner than of evincing benevolence.
Gal 6:10 So then as we have time, let us work good toward all, especially toward those of the household of faith.

This is the true rule about doing good. “The opportunity to do good,” said Cotton Mather, “imposes the obligation to do it.” The simple rule is, that we are favored with the opportunity, and that we have the power. It is not that we are to do it when it is convenient; or when it will advance the interest of a party; or when it may contribute to our fame; the rule is, that we are to do it when we have the opportunity. No matter how often that occurs; no matter how many objects of benevolence are presented - the more the better; no matter how much self-denial it may cost us; no matter how little fame we may get by it; still, if we have the opportunity to do good, we are to do it, and should be thankful for the privilege. And it is to be done to all people. Not to our family only; not to our party; not to our neighbors; not to those of our own color; not to those who live in the same land with us, but to all mankind. If we can reach and benefit a man who lives on the other side of the globe, whom we have never seen, and shall never see in this world or in the world to come, still we are to do him good. Such is Christianity. And in this, as in all other respects, it differs from the narrow and selfish spirit of clanship which prevails all over the world.

Every now and then someone posts something that cracks me up. Tonight, Spunky posted:

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?