Clothes Dam

Recently I have been reading through Jeremiah. I really don't know why I choose to read through it other then I have a nephew by that name and I was hanging out with him a lot when I was home last. There is a object lesson that God takes the prophet through in the 13th chapter. Jeremiah buys a brand new sash and sports it for a bit, but then God asks him to go throw it under a rock near a river. This completely ruins the sash. Moral of the story, clothes make terrible dams. But of course God had much more to say then just don't use your garments for diverting water systems. God explains to Jeremiah in verse 11: "For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the LORD, ‘that they may become My people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; but they would not hear." Because the Jewish people would not hear God, they were conquered and displaced. God wished for nothing but good things for His people, but they thought they would do a better job at damming up a river. So they detached themselves from the very hip of God and pursued others. Have you ever seen one of those couples that are completely attached at the hip? If you have ever been to the campus at ORU, you for sure have seen this. This is what I picture when I think about clinging to God, but without all the negative feelings. Do I really strive for that closeness with God, a closeness with God that makes me uncomfortable; even making others observing uncomfortable. When I see those conjoined-at-the-hip couples it makes me uncomfortable, especially if they sit down on the same bench as me. What if my relationship with God made non-believers uncomfortable, not because they would think, "what a crazy right-winged, religious nutcase!" but they would think, "that is a freedom I thought not possible?" I have been thinking recently about a concept Damien Thompson calls "little affairs of the heart." It is essentially what the Jewish people started doing before the days of the kings. Just little compromises, that are not unfaithful, but simply not completely faithful. In stagnation affairs of the heart turn to sin quite quickly. The phrase that keeps coming to my mind is: No other lovers! That has been a guiding phrase for my life recently, and I constantly have to say it to myself. If I make sure God as my first love continues guiding me I will most likely not end doing some dam work. God is our lover. He gives no bouquets of roses, but instead grows the willow. He writes no love songs, but puts a tune in lungs of a bird. He doesn't cook much, but his eye is on the sparrow. He doesn't give temple massages, but He knows the number of hairs on our head. He paints no pictures, but does He make a great sunset, or if you are in Boston, a tremendous sunrise.

Song for thought: Divine Romance - Phil Wickham

Song for Fun: Tragedy - Girl Talk

Cake + Public Enemy + Marques Houston ft. Yung Joc + Michelle Branch + Blink 182 + Outkast + Beastie Boys + Yael Naïm = two minutes of a song by Girl Talk