Of Pencils and Blades of Grass

Posted on 30 December, 2011 by Jon Gleason

Luke 16:10

He that is faithful in that which is least
is faithful also in much:
and he that is unjust in the least
is unjust also in much.

Some years back, a friend told me that when he was a child, he picked a blade of grass from his neighbour’s lawn.  His father made him go and apologise to the neighbour.

Many people would laugh at this.  Some at first glance might consider it cruel, and would say that it was embarrassing a child for no good reason.  But there’s a side to this that not everyone would consider.

I’ve had 30 years of friendship with that “little boy”, through university studies, student pranks, theological debates, best man in his wedding (as he was in mine), and now years as colleagues working together.  I’ve not always agreed with him on the finer points of theology, software design, and a host of other things, but in all of those 30 years, I’ve never had reason to doubt his integrity.

Someone, somewhere, somehow, instilled in my friend the principle that, if something isn’t yours, it simply isn’t yours and you don’t take it.  Maybe if that silly little blade of grass was part of that training, it wasn’t quite as ridiculous as some people think it was.

It is always the little things that add up to character, the small things that create in us habits of integrity that will stand us in good stead when the crisis comes, when we need to “instinctively” do the right thing.

I was telling my wife about this excellent article on counting pencils (HT: News for Christians) which I read recently, and she reminded me of our friend’s story of the blade of grass.  The article tells how, for one man’s father, counting pencils was a matter of integrity, and the author had this to say:

My dad understands where character is forged. It is in the so-called little decisions away from the public eye.

What kind of person are you going to be?  The answer to that question may be determined in large part by whether you “count your pencils” or not, whether you respect the ownership of even the little things that don’t belong to you.

*Your small actions (especially in private) form your habits.*

*Your mental approach to small decisions forms a mindset.*

*Habits and mindsets form your character.*

*Your character drives your response in a crisis.*

*Your response in a crisis reveals much of who you really are.*

Posted in Daily Christianity | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Proverb for Today — Proverbs 25:28 (part three)

Posted on 29 December, 2011 by Jon Gleason

“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls” (Proverbs 25:28).

Part One, on the context in Proverbs and the “Road to Ruin.”

Part Two, on the significance of city walls in the ancient Middle East, and how that relates to the need for self-control.

This post is just a freebie that I’m throwing in without extra charge :), because it doesn’t really have much to do with the Proverb itself.  Hebrews 13:12:

Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

I thought of this verse yesterday when I was writing about the significance of city walls.  The emphasis of the passage in Hebrews is two-fold:  First, by being outside the city, Jesus was fulfilling the picture of the sin offering which was killed outside the camp of Israel.  Second, He was slain as an outcast outside the gate of the city, bearing reproach and shame for us.

But as I thought about city walls yesterday, it struck me also that as He bore our sin outside the city, suffering our shame outside the gate, He was outside the city walls, with all that meant in the time and place in which He lived and died.  He died in enemy territory, in the place of danger and insecurity.  All of that He bore for us, too.

Posted in A Proverb for Today | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Proverb for Today — Proverbs 25:28 (part two)

Posted on 28 December, 2011 by Jon Gleason

“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls” (Proverbs 25:28).

Yesterday, I looked at this proverb in the context of Proverbs “Road to Ruin”.  In this post, we’ll focus on some of the details of the Proverb, especially in regard to city walls.

Continue reading →

Posted in A Proverb for Today | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A Proverb for Today — Proverbs 25:28 (part one)

Posted on 27 December, 2011 by Jon Gleason

“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls” (Proverbs 25:28).

Actually, it is a proverb not for today, but from chapter twenty-five of Proverbs (two days ago), but I wasn’t blogging or reading blogs on Christmas Day, and I hope you weren’t, either.

Today, we’ll look at this proverb in the context of Proverbs “Road to Ruin”.  Tomorrow, Lord willing, we’ll look at the message of the proverb itself in a little more detail.

Continue reading →

Posted in A Proverb for Today | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A Fun Gift

Posted on 26 December, 2011 by Jon Gleason

One of my presents yesterday was inscribed with the following quote from Benjamin Franklin:

I am in the prime of senility.

The gift never got wrapped, however.  The person giving it to me….

…forgot it.

Posted in Just for Fun | Leave a comment

Happy Feast of Purim!

Posted on 24 December, 2011 by Jon Gleason

Well, not really.  But did you ever notice some of the similarities between the Jewish Feast of Purim and Christmas?  From Esther chapter 9:

20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,
21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,
22 As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.
23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;

27 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;
28 And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.

God never commanded His people to keep the Feast of Purim.  It was something they had already undertaken to do (verse 23) before there was ever a command, and when the command came, it was from a government official (Mordecai), not a prophet of the Lord. The feast had been adopted as a tradition by the Jews before it was ever mentioned in Scripture.  It was a time of feasting, joy, giving of gifts, and remembering the poor, in commemorating a great deliverance from Almighty God.

Sounds sort of like Christmas, in some ways, doesn’t it?  Christmas certainly was never commanded by God, but is a tradition which God’s people have adopted in commemorating His great deliverance in sending His Son, and many of the traditions which have arisen around the day are similar to the ways the Jews observed Purim. Christmas isn’t Purim, but the similarities are interesting.

Of course, the Feast of Purim was two days.  I’ll have to let my employer know that Boxing Day is sort of, kind of, almost maybe Biblical, and ask for the extra day off. 🙂

May the Lord give you a blessed day remembering the incarnation of Christ.

Our God contracted to a span
Incomprehensibly made man!

Posted in The Christian and Culture | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Ten Things We Have as a Result of Christ’s Humanity

Posted on 24 December, 2011 by Jon Gleason

Thoughts from and/or triggered by Pastor Smith’s sermon on Sunday.

Hebrews 2:9-18:

9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Ten things we have because the Son of God became a man:

  1. One day, we will be brought to glory (verse 10).
  2. We have a perfect Captain of our salvation (verse 10).
  3. We are sanctified: set apart to God, made holy (verse 11).
  4. We are His brethren (verses 11-13).
  5. We are children of God (verses 13-14).
  6. We are free from Satan’s power (verse 14).
  7. We are free from the fear of death (verse 15).
  8. We have a high priest like us (verse 17).
  9. We are reconciled to God (verse 17).
  10. Our high priest understands temptation, and helps us when we are tempted (verse 18).

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment