The dictionary defines a famine as a widespread scarcity of food, usually accompanied or followed by malnutrition, starvation, epidemic and mortality. And this, my friends, is a tale of famine from the days of our modern world...
In the book of Ruth, Naomi, her mother-in-law, was married to Elimelech and they lived in Bethlehem, Judah. Famine in their land drove his family from their home into Moab, a foreign land to them.
Famine drove our family of 7, established on January 4, 1992 A.D. far, far from the home into a foreign land. We weren't starving in the literal sense. We had plenty of food, our cupboards were not bare. I shopped at Publix and even bought more expensive organic meats, veggies and fruits. We were starving, however. We were malnourished, and it eventually led to an epidemic that spread to every family member and ultimately resulted in it's mortality.
RIP: December 2, 2010.
It's hard to even know where to begin.
I guess, it started on a crooked foundation. Living together before marriage, pre-marital sex, buying a house rather than a ring, by-passing God's counsel and His ways.
We were filling ourselves with worldly possessions and satisfying our needs with lust. High caloric intake loaded with little to no nutritional value. Expensive food, easy to get, hard to lose, with costly consequences.
Starting a family with no budget, lots of debt, poor communication, lack of discipline, constant struggle, deception, violence and fantasy land living. It could be compared to planting a garden on the beach. Looks really pretty, fun to be there, exotic location with very little chance for any real growth. A set up for famine.
Blessings came and chances were available to live life differently. Life got busy and immediate gratification and fast and easy became the staple. It was easier in the short term; who had time to prepare the soil, lay a foundation, plot out boundaries, obtain good seed to plant, water, fertilize and wait for a harvest in due time?
Can you see famine down the path?
There was ALWAYS something better around the corner. "Seize every opportunity" became the family motto. Moving 20 times from 1992 to 2008 in 16 years was the result of living out that dysfunctional way of thinking. Plant, establish, uproot... plant, establish, uproot... plant, establish, uproot... plant, establish, uproot...
What plant can survive that many transplants? None, and neither can a family of 7. We needed stability and a place to be planted and established and rooted. We needed irrigation and fertilizer. Our root system needed time to grow where the roots could absorb the nutrients we were so desperately lacking.
It was obvious what was happening. A gentle wind, an evening shower, a touch of cold or the midday heat... blew us over, flooded our emotions, gave us a chilling to the bone and wilted us to the point of exhaustion.
Gardens can not grow and produce without key ingredients.
A family can not grow and produce without key ingredients.
No gardens, no food. No food, no nutrition. No nutrition, no growth. No growth, no life.
That's how famine happens. It's a lack of, no...
you fill in the blank.
No thinking of others, no love. No contentment, no joy. No loving and honest communication, no peace. No understanding and empathy, no patience. No sharing, no kindness. No Mediator, no goodness. No trust, no faithfulness. No affection or care, no gentleness. No discipline and conscience, no self-control.
Galatians 5:22 tell us that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control is the fruit we should bare to nourish ourselves and one another to prevent famine in the land.
If you refer further to verses 24 and 25, you will read that those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, and if we live in the Spirit, we will walk in the Spirit.
Flesh is stinky. Flesh is the rotting decay that we must slough off daily to fertilize the good soil we have prepared through the study of His Word. Talking to Him in prayer and walking hand in hand with our Savior as we serve and have healthy relationship. Using the 10 commandments as our chalk line to mark the boundaries for the fence is essential. Periods of drought will come and to keep hydrated you must have an irrigation system for fresh, clean water.
John 4:13-14 " Jesus answered and said to her, 'Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life..' "
So, go to the Master of irrigation, the Head of hydration, the Father of fountains, the Expert at installing elaborate sprinkler systems, and the Driller of never run dry wells.
Our Christian gardens will bare the fruit of the Spirit to keep us well nourished and out of famine. We must tend to our gardens. We must tend to our families. Famine in the land does not happen randomly. Famine in our families does not happen randomly.
Famine contributed to the cause of death. We were all starving and slowly wasting away on the inside. Our eyes were sinking in, our bellies protruding, our vital organs shutting down from toxins that our already dirty filters could not get rid of, our heart was overworked with a blockage in the lines that provided the necessary oxygen and blood.
It's a slow and painful death. It's a sad death. It's an unnecessary death. Compassion International is a great organization, but we have no need for them. We have a Father to adopt us and a never ending place at His banqueting table.
2 Samuel 9:10 "You, therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master's son may have food to eat.. But Mephibosheth your master's son shall eat bread at my table always.."
We may not live in the ancient world of dragons and knights, kings and queens, royal banquets and dining within the royal chambers, or scepters and crowns all happening in a fairytale worthy of a princess storybook...
What we do have in the modern world, though, is famine and war, pestilence and plagues. Our enemy is more fierce than a dragon, he is the prince of darkness and we still need and have a Knight to slay him. We have a King that lets us dine in His chamber at His royal table. We have a permanent invitation to every banquet held at His castle. He extends His scepter to us continually, giving us free access to the King. We humbly take off our crowns and lay them at His feet and there is ALWAYS a happy ending...in His Kingdom, as told in The Royal Storybook, The Bible.
No comments:
Post a Comment