Grains of Sand

Pixabay How much water does a camel drink? (This is important when you are looking for a mate!) Here’s one answer: “ A camel can go without water for days or even months. The amount of water a camel drinks varies with the time of year and with the weather. Camels need less water in winter when the weather is cool and the plants they eat contain more moisture than in summer. Camels that graze in the Sahara can go all winter without water and may refuse to drink if water is offered to them. But a large, thirsty camel can drink as much as 200 litres a day. This water is not stored in the camel's body but replaces water previously used up. ” ( http://camelfarm.com/camels/camels_life.html ) In Genesis 24 we read the story of the servant who was commissioned to find a bride for Abraham’s son, Isaac. His instructions were to go back to Abraham’s relatives and find a girl from among the family. A pagan bride was not acceptable and Isaac was not to go back to a pagan country and search ...

gndesigns—Google Images " They were so violent that no one could pass that way " (Matthew 8:28). If it had been today, the authorities would have come along, packed them up and tucked them away where they wouldn't have been a menace to the public. But not so in Jesus' time. These two demon-possessed men made life difficult for the citizens of the region. I wonder if the disciples were nervous when the Lord had this potentially nasty encounter with two wild-eyed mad men. Imagine their shock when the "crazies" identified Jesus as the Son of God (8:29). Even the devil knows Truth when he sees it. Too bad the locals weren't as attuned to spiritual things. When Jesus restored these two poor souls to their right minds, it cost the townspeople a few pigs. Not only did they miss the miracle that restored two of their citizens to them, and that should have clued them into the presence of Someone special among them, but they overlooked the not-so-subtle sugges...

Oddly enough the story of Joseph seems like a deviation from the path that takes us from God’s promise of salvation in Genesis 3:15 to the coming of the Saviour in the Gospels. Joseph isn’t in the kingly or the priestly line that leads us to Christ. His brother, Judah, is the man we should be watching for that part of the story. But then again, there are lots of stories told in the Scriptures that, while they don’t have to do with the main story about which Scripture is written, do contribute significantly to the story. And Joseph is one of those. Joseph was a younger son, the son of Israel’s favourite wife. Because of who his mother was, Joseph became a favourite son. His brothers despised him for it. Joseph also had dreams. I have dreams too, but so far none of them have gotten me into the difficulty that Joseph’s did. By the end of Genesis 37, Joseph goes from pampered favourite son to a lowly slave nobody in Egypt, courtesy of his jealous brothers. But there are two other c...