Grains of Sand

Pixaby My friends in the north have already had their first skiff of snow. When I went downstairs to make my coffee this morning I noticed that the car had frost on it—the first of the season. The inevitable is happening. Winter happens. Be it mild or fierce, it is sure. Just as surely comes the inevitable need to face a much bigger issue than frost and snow flurries. At some point in life every one of us has to face the offenses we have committed against God—what the Scripture calls sin. One of the ladies we worked with in Caracas was always quick to remind us that David, often held up as a godly example, was not perfect. If Elizabeth knew nothing much else about the Bible she certainly knew the story of David's sin against Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah. God did not seek to hide the sin of one of His own. In recording David's sin, and its consequences, the Almighty also provided the backdrop for a wonderful description of the remedy for that sin. Psalm 51 descri...

library.duke.edu (Google Images) It could not have been easy. The roofs of many homes in Israel were made of slabs of burnt or dried clay set on wooden beams that stretched from one side of the house to the other. Over the labs was spread a layer of wet clay. This was left to harden, allowing the family to come up on the roof in the cool of the evening to get some fresh air. To break up the clay and remove the slabs would not have been simple and certainly would have caused a disturbance for the people below in the house. But that is exactly what four men did in order to make sure that their sick friend got to see Jesus. It happened in Capernaum (Mark 2:1). Along with the crowds of people who wanted to hear Jesus, there were many Pharisees and teachers of the law who had come from other parts to investigate this man whom they were hearing so much about (Luke 5:17). The house was full to overflowing. There was no room for a stretcher and the four men carrying it. So they mounted the...