The Desire To Go Back

Scripture

 So now that you know God {Christ}, why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? 

~Galatians 4:9, NLT

Quote

“The good old days are usually a combination of a bad memory and a great imagination.”

~Subic

I don’t remember the exact words but Don ask me Sunday in our Bible Study class if I would like to have a 50 year old body? He may have said, “Go back and have a 50 year old body”. I gave him a quick answer, “No!” Then I said, “I would like to have the 50 year old body but I definitely do not want to go back, not even in age. That would make me younger than two of my children and I do not want to be younger than my children. I am sorry but Bailey’s are highly competitive by nature and I do not want them getting to Jordan before I do. I don’t think this is noble, I think it is normal: most parents don’t want their children to preceed them in physical death.

I am not antisemitic, but I am honest. All ethnic groups have strengths and weaknesses. Everyone tells us that our weakness {white folks} is greed, pride and prejustice. They say we are born racist. We are born sinners and we are subject to racism but so is everyone else. The Jewish people are highly intelligent. They have much more than their share of scientist and they have made remarkable discoveries. They are less the one percent of the world’s population and they have won close to 20 percent of the Nobel prizes. Of course, there are no Nobel prizes for conservatives. Do you think President Donald Trump has a shoot at a Nobel Prize…not on your life but Jimmy Carter won the Peace Prize in 2002. He was a horrible president. His greatest accomplish was enlarge the Republican Party.

The Jews are extremely hard headed. They are prone to rebellion. They cried out to God when they were in bondage in Egypt and God sent Moses. These stubborn sons of Jacob gave Moses fits. Their entire history became one of rebellion. No doubt in my mind, they would have become the greatest nation in history had they been obedient to God. As Moses lead them through the wilderness; they were always wanting to go back to Egypt. Paul has to deal with this same attitude in his epistle to the Galatians; some of the Jewish converts were wanting to go back to Judaism and Paul said, “You can’t go back.” The writer of Hebrews makes it clear, YOU CANNOT GO BACK TO JUDAISM, not and please God. Jesus was the ultimate and final sacrifice; we are not going back to the sacrifical system. To do so would be demonic. You got to be nuts to want to go back the sacrificing of sheep and goats; back to the curse of the law. Are you kidding me? It is insanity.

I have not had a hard like. I have not suffered that much but I have absolutely no desire to go back. I trust my Savior in that He is going to save me from the evil in this world and the evil in myself. I am anxious to be free of both. I ran a lot of races in college and I was never tempted to go back. No, no, I want to keep going toward the finish line. As Paul said, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The world behind me, the cross before me—no turning back, no turning back!

Extra

June is baby sitting today and I do a little driving; I have one visit in Huntsville that I need to make, which means I will be going from Huntsville to the Point. We have a couple of deliveries coming in today. Our tractor shed should be here by noon and we have one more load of gravel coming in this morning. Still restricted in lifting but doing a little light work. I try not stay out more than a couple of hours at a time and the cool weather has really helped. The greatest improvement is getting in and out of bed. The last two nights have been pain free in that regard. I do praise the LORD. He has been very gracious to me.

Thanks to my book buddy Kevin, I have a new devotional, DAY BY DAY WITH ENGLISH PURITANS. I read four entries last night. Reading the Puritans is simular to reading C.S. Lewis, you read, muse and read again. Most of us will not get in one reading. Example: one of their idiosyncratic ways is to be Sesquipedalian writing. They use big words when they could use little ones. They scholarly friends understand them on first reading: you and I have to read, reread and look up words, but it is worth it.

I have a huge praise….Eating lunch at Dot’s…fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn…Mrs. Dot’s on 20, food great, I go at 11:30, can’t wait. Sink me, the man is a poet and he does not know it! Sir Percy Blakeney, The Scarllet Pimpernel.

Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.

Extra/Extra

49er Luncheon Friday at 11:30

Twelve Degrees of Scriptural Giving

• Begrudgingly—those who give under compulsion {2 Cor.9:7}
• Occassionally—Those who give to special causes but not on a consistent basis
• Sparingly—Those who give as little as possible {2 Cor. 9:6)
• Systematically—Those who give on a regular basis {1 Cor. 16:1}
• Cheerfully—Those who really enjoy giving {2 Cor. 9:7}
• Sincerely—Those who give because they are motivated by love {2 Cor. 8:8}
• Bountifully—Those who choose to err on the side of generosity. They had rather give too much as not enough {2 Cor. 9:6}
• Sacrifically—Those who give more than they can afford or beyond their ability. They have to deprive themselves of something in order to give.
• Spiritually—Those who give whatever the LORD instructs them to give{2 Cor. 8:5}
• Graciously—Those who give like Jesus {2 Cor. 8:9} Jesus never tithed, He gave 100 percent.

Story behind the Twelve Degrees…I was visiting at St. Vicents in Birmingham. I was in the waiting room while some one was having surgery. I saw the tract lying on the table and I picked it up and read. At least half of my list came from that Catholic tract