Category Archives: SOAP
SOAP
Breathe and Be Breathed Upon
Reading: Exodus 23-24
Scripture
“Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed. Exodus 23:12 (NIV)
Observation
God is concerned with our well-being, and so he commanded the Israelites to have rest and refreshment. This was to be for everyone, even animals, and even the ground. In addition to a weekly rest, three times a year there were festivals which had the dual role of focusing the people on God and giving them a holiday. The sabbaths and the festivals therefore provided for physical, mental and spiritual refreshment.
Refresh; to breathe; passively, to be breathed upon, i.e. (figuratively) refreshed (as if by a current of air)
Application
Refreshment should be a natural part of my life, a cycle, like a clock consisting of many cogs, some small, some large, and a very few larger still. As time ticks by, each cog goes through its cycle, pausing for a second to rest between each movement, or for a minute, or maybe for an hour. This is the way God plans for me to work and rest. Every part of me needs to be regularly refreshed – the physical, the mental and the spiritual. For true refreshment, all three need my disciplined attention.
Prayer
Thank you Lord for the opportunity to rest. Thank you for the refreshment that comes from your Word, and the opportunity to pause and enjoy spending time with you. Here I am Lord, to unwind, to worship and to drink from your spring of living water. To breathe, and be breathed upon.
Jesus Wants Me to Ask!
Reading: Mark 10:35-52
Scripture
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.Mark 10:49-52 (NIV)
Observation
“What do you want me to do for you?” This is Jesus' response to blind Bartimaeus' cries for mercy, and is exactly the same response as the one he makes to John and James in the story immediately before. But something about their attitude was different: Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”What they wanted was a position of importance, to be seated at the right and left of Jesus in glory. And yet despite their forwardness and the inappropriateness of their request, Jesus doesn't rebuke them for asking. He simply explains to them why he can't grant that request, and takes the opportunity to teach them about what it means to be great in the kingdom of God.
Application
Jesus expects me to ask him for things – things I need, and things I'd like him to do. In Matthew 7:7-8, he tells me, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”It's possible that at times I might ask for something inappropriately, but Jesus won't mind. It's an opportunity for him to teach me. On the other hand, to not ask at all – that would be a great shame. What blessing might I miss out on for lack of boldness in asking, or from simply not understanding that the God I serve delights to show his love and kindness to me.
Prayer
Thank you Lord for these two stories. I want to be an “asker”, and to enjoy the riches of your kindness to me. I don't want to miss out on anything you have for me because of my own lack of faith or understanding. Please give me faith, and open my eyes to see you as you really are, and to know your love which surpasses all understanding.
Sneaking Off With God... 