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Take what you’re given
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
First Week of Advent
Isaiah 25:6-10
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines: juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. And on this mountain he will destroy the veil that is woven over all the nations. He will destroy death forever. And we will say, “Behold our God! This is the Lord for whom we looked.” The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain.
In Italy for our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary ten years ago, we stayed in Modena with Max, former glass factory owner, now retired and welcoming guests into his home for bed and breakfast. Many families in Modena, including Max’s family, maintain small balsamic vinegar breweries. Their product is put together to sell as authentic Balsamic Vinegar of Modena.
Max’s factory was in the attic of his three story house. After breakfast he took us there and let us taste the 25 year old balsamic, and then the 50 year old balsamic vinegar. Thick, sweet, and very very old. We felt warm and well-fed, so taken care of.
Max was proud of his English. We wanted to test him a little and asked a simple question: “Max! Do you eat to live … or do you live to eat?”
He looked puzzled and was silent for a moment. Then we watched understanding dawn in his eyes, and in his smile. “I live to eat!” he exclaimed.
In Genesis, God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you.” You will toil and sweat, and the earth will not give up its bounty to you without a struggle. The goodness of creation seemed to be turned on its ear. The “veil over the nations” settled firmly into place.
We struggle futilely against this “curse” when we base our lives only on the idea that we are originally sinful. We are also originally blessed. We were blessed before we were sinful, in fact.
Then Jesus came and brought with him the kingdom of God. Now. Today. “Not yet?” Of course. But already, too.
See what happens when you rejoice in the “juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines” of our lives. O taste and see that the Lord is good. The “hand of the Lord” does not slap and punish. It rests easy on my head, and offers me honey from God’s honeycomb.
Who am I to refuse?
And yet, Lord, I strive and struggle for my own version of your rest, and try to make my own honey, bitter as it might finally be. Forgive my search for what I already have. As I fall asleep, and as I come awake, remind me of my blessing. You are good – you are always, finally good.
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1298
