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4 June 2008
Word on the Web
Judges 19 v 8-15
On the fifth day the man got up early in the morning to leave. The woman's father said, "Refresh yourself. Wait until this afternoon." So the two men ate together.
When the Levite, his slave woman, and his servant got up to leave, the father-in-law, the young woman's father, said, "It's almost night. The day is almost gone. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow morning you can get up early and go home." But the Levite did not want to stay another night. So he took his two saddled donkeys and his slave woman and travelled toward the city of Jebus (also called Jerusalem).
As the day was almost over, they came near Jebus. So the servant said to his master, "Let's stop at this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night here."
But his master said, "No. We won't go inside a foreign city. Those people are not Israelites. We will go on to the city of Gibeah." He said, "Come on. Let's try to make it to Gibeah or Ramah so we can spend the night in one of those cities." So they went on. The sun went down as they came near Gibeah, which belongs to the tribe of Benjamin. They stopped there to spend the night. They came to the public square of the city and sat down, but no one invited them home to spend the night.
The problems in this story start with overindulgence on the part of the host and weakness on the part of the guest. The host did not want the happy time to end, and clung onto it with disastrous consequences, making it difficult for his guest to leave when he needed to. The guest was not firm enough to go when he needed to, and ended up falling between two stools - he left so late in the day that he had no chance of completing his journey by nightfall.
Are there times in your life when you have tried to prolong an experience to the extent of undermining it? Are there times when you have been persuaded to stay (or else to do something which you knew was wrong) when you needed to move on, and have been too weak to resist?
The story continues with prejudice - an assumption that Jerusalem, a foreign city, would be less safe than moving on to Gibeah. What prejudices do you hold which lead you to distrust people who seem different from you in favour of those you think you understand?
Lord, teach me to look to you for guidance in the little decisions of everyday life. Help me today to be firm when I need to and keep me from any form of prejudice. Amen
Written by James Archer
Word on the Web
Judges 19 v 8-15
On the fifth day the man got up early in the morning to leave. The woman's father said, "Refresh yourself. Wait until this afternoon." So the two men ate together.
When the Levite, his slave woman, and his servant got up to leave, the father-in-law, the young woman's father, said, "It's almost night. The day is almost gone. Spend the night here and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow morning you can get up early and go home." But the Levite did not want to stay another night. So he took his two saddled donkeys and his slave woman and travelled toward the city of Jebus (also called Jerusalem).
As the day was almost over, they came near Jebus. So the servant said to his master, "Let's stop at this city of the Jebusites, and spend the night here."
But his master said, "No. We won't go inside a foreign city. Those people are not Israelites. We will go on to the city of Gibeah." He said, "Come on. Let's try to make it to Gibeah or Ramah so we can spend the night in one of those cities." So they went on. The sun went down as they came near Gibeah, which belongs to the tribe of Benjamin. They stopped there to spend the night. They came to the public square of the city and sat down, but no one invited them home to spend the night.
The problems in this story start with overindulgence on the part of the host and weakness on the part of the guest. The host did not want the happy time to end, and clung onto it with disastrous consequences, making it difficult for his guest to leave when he needed to. The guest was not firm enough to go when he needed to, and ended up falling between two stools - he left so late in the day that he had no chance of completing his journey by nightfall.
Are there times in your life when you have tried to prolong an experience to the extent of undermining it? Are there times when you have been persuaded to stay (or else to do something which you knew was wrong) when you needed to move on, and have been too weak to resist?
The story continues with prejudice - an assumption that Jerusalem, a foreign city, would be less safe than moving on to Gibeah. What prejudices do you hold which lead you to distrust people who seem different from you in favour of those you think you understand?
Lord, teach me to look to you for guidance in the little decisions of everyday life. Help me today to be firm when I need to and keep me from any form of prejudice. Amen
Written by James Archer
