Weekend Words

 From The Women's Devotional Bible (NIV)...

God's Eraser - Read Revelation 1:4-8

"...To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood" (Revelation 1:5)

I'll probably never meet Kara, now four years old.  But one day she made a beautiful observation that has helped me.

"We had been standing on the hillside watching the airplane skywriting," her grandmother wrote me one day.  "When the words began to disappear, she asked, 'Why Grandma?  Where do they go?'

"Then as I groped for an answer, her little face brightened and she suddenly exclaimed, 'Maybe Jesus has an eraser!'"

I smiled as I read, but my eyes filled and suddenly I wanted to hug that little girl.  For that morning I had been grieving over past mistakes.  A cruel thing I had said to my mother the day I left for college.  And Dad ... if only I'd invited him to that luncheon where I was to speak - he'd have been so proud.  One tender but painful memory releases others: the time I'd punished a child unfairly, humiliated my husband, let a friend down ...

No matter how much we mature as people, grow as Christians, try desperately to compensate, memories of our own failures rise up to haunt us, and sting us - how they sting.  For me, it's not the unkindnesses of others that hurt so much or last so long, it's the burden of my own.  Yes, I ask God to forgive me, and try to believe that I am forgiven.  But the memory won't go away.  And if I can't forgive myself, how can God?

Then a little girl, in her innocence and wisdom, makes me realize: Like that writing on the sky that simply disappears, Jesus has wiped away all things I so bitterly regret.  Jesus does have an eraser.

- Marjorie Holmes

From Amish Peace...

Unfilled Days

"On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work." - Genesis 2:2

Is there a day in an Amish household when work doesn't pile up?  I doubt it.  Yet the Amish do take a day of rest, just as the Bible directs.  Apart from necessary tasks such as caring for animals and milking, they do not work on Sundays.  Every other week they meet for church, and after church they eat together.  Unlike church potlucks that many of us are used to, this meal is simpler - bread and spread, jams, pickled beets, cheese, and sometimes pie.  Women cook ahead on Saturdays so they'll not have to spend time in the kitchen on Sunday.

On Sundays, Amish families visit with others in the community or return home to rest.  Sometimes they'll visit the home of an elderly family member or a couple with a new baby.  On Sunday evenings the youth gather for "singings," in which they sing hymns and songs from the Ausbund and spend time in fellowship.  This is a highlight of the week for teens.

On "off Sunday" (when there is no church), families visit another Amish church nearby.  They often have devotions together as a family or visit family and friends.

Do you treat Sunday differently from other days?  One of the Ten Commandments reminds us, "Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy" (Exodus 20:8), but do you set it apart as different?  Do you use it as a time to worship God and connect with others, or is it simply another day to get things done?

God could have set up any structure He wanted for our week, but He chose to include a day set apart for rest.  What can you do to make your Sabbath more holy? Turn to God and He will show you how.

Dear heavenly Father, I thank You for setting up a structure to remind us how to fill our days - or unfill them - and how to keep us focused on You.  Help me to remember to fill my Sabbath with ways to quiet and nurture my heart and connect with others and with You.

"Keep us, Lord, still in communion, Daily nearer drawn to thee,

Sinking in the sweetest union, Of that heartfelt mystery."