Moses--and the Seeking Savior

Holy cow, it's been a while since I've been on here! I'm baaaaack--hmm, isn't that from the movie, "The Shining," or something similarly uplifting and edifying? Sorry about that. But, gee whiz, I'm so thankful to be back on here, having the opportunity to give God glory in my little corner of the world! My sweet daughter somehow or other figured out how to configure this blog thing so you can actually subscribe to it by email (isn't technology something? More importantly, aren't our children something since they can actually navigate through all this mysterious maze for us old folks?). And, wow, the background has a new picture and everything! I'm just feeling downright spiffy and up-to-the-minute... well, until even the slightest computer glitch arises and I'm once again lost out in a sea of confusion and frustration.

If anyone is reading this who is Saltshakers Bible study, my apologies for boring you again, but I wanted to include here one of the things that really convicted me this past week. I had the privilege of giving a talk on Amos 5 and 6 today, and I can honestly say this little book of the Bible has so challenged and convicted me. But once again, our sweet old black lab, Moses, has taught and encouraged me in my faith--who knew a dog could be so wise?! Well, but if you knew Moses: he is just a remarkable dog. Okay, that might be a bit strong--let's just say he's mighty lovable... though 99% of the day he is "resting" (aka sound asleep and snoring). One of these days I need to write a book about Moses and all the lessons he has taught us. Here's just a few: never let a piece of chocolate go to waste and other valuable insights into food of all kinds; or slow down, really really slow down and smell the.... whatever; or love the one you're with; or be thankful in all circumstances; or love people, not things; or if you stay near the table or counter when food of any kind is involved, you never know when you might get lucky; or corollary--never ever leave the presence of anyone consuming food of any kind; or show your appreciation--don't just "feel" it--express it!; or sometimes you just need to go with the flow--if your family forgets to give you your afternoon snack, it's not the end of the world; or if the end of the world is at hand, make sure you somehow remind your family to give you your afternoon snack; or life is always better after a brief nap on the living room sofa; or be sure Daddy doesn't see you napping on the living room sofa; or corollary--moms are almost always a soft touch, so don't worry about napping on the living room coach if only mom is at home, after all, life is short; or never miss an opportunity to show your love and appreciation; or it's the simple joys in life that mean the most--an early morning walk, sitting quietly at the feet of someone you love, greeting and playing with your buddies, and, of course, eating; or be content in all circumstances--life truly is so good...

I've really just barely scratched the surface, but lest this post go on and on and on, I wanted to share a bit of what sweet Moses taught me just this week. As I said, we've been studying the book of Amos, and God, through the prophet Amos, urges us in Amos 5:4 to "Seek Me and live" and in v.6 "Seek the Lord and live." I contemplated what it meant to seek the Lord and live--especially in light of all our sin and selfishness and pride. (If you are a Saltshaker girl, feel free to stop reading now since this will be repetitive!):

The other day, during a family discussion, my daughter, Janie, exclaimed that our dog, Moses loved food more than people! “No way,” I remonstrated! “He loves us, he loves people” (and he really does)! He’d rather sit at our feet and be with us than anything. But Janie persisted--”Mom, if you put Moses in a room with people at one end and a big hunk of meat at the other end of the room, he’d go for the meat every time!”

Well, maybe, I had to admit, because he’s a dog. And He’s not just any dog, he’s a lab. And let me tell you something about labs, they LOVE food! And Moses always appears to be starving--even after just eating--because, like I said, he’s a dog and a lab and his nature is to love food (which frankly I can relate to). He can’t help it. Given his natural tendency, as much as he adores people, he’d choose food every time.

That’s our sin nature! We want to do good. We want to seek God. We want to love others and not be so unrelentingly selfish or self-indulgent or small-minded. But try as we might, our old sinful selves rise up so that, as Paul says, we “do what we hate.”

Early the next morning after this discussion, however, it suddenly dawned on me: sure, if some stranger was in that hypothetical room with Moses, he’d go for the food every time. But what if it was one of the members of our family--of his family--in that room? And what if we were calling his name--with love and enthusiasm and welcome?

That would change everything! You see, Moses knows our voices. He loves us--even more than food, I think (though, that’s saying a lot!) I know he’d come to us every time! We’d win out over that food, not only because of Moses’ love for us but because of our love for him, and because we’re calling his name.

O how I love Jesus, because He knows how much I want to seek Him and obey Him and forsake my selfishness, but He also knows the allure of sin in my life. So while I’m seeking Him, He’s seeking me and calling my name in love and grace. And how is He seeking us? How about we let Paul answer that? Remember Rom.7?--“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Paul answers it with--”Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

From the opening words of Genesis to the final syllable of Revelation, the Bible reveals God’s eternal, perfect answer...and His name is Jesus! “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16

So thank You thank You thank You, Lord Jesus, for coming to seek and to save the lost--that would be me and all of us! (Luke 19:10). How thankful I am that we seek the Seeking Savior. And those whom He seeks, He always always always finds. To our Seeking Savior, be all the glory.

p.s. I have no idea why the font size suddenly decided to change. Okay, so maybe technology isn't so terrific.