Thought for the Week

Good Afternoon Girlfriends!

So, the tetherball rope broke last week.  I know this because as I was standing outside my daughter's classroom, waiting for the final bell to ring, our school principal came walking by swinging what was left of one of the playground's most prized possessions.  As he passed by he said, "You must respect the rope."  What an odd statement...I thought quietly to myself.  But he was right.  The kids on the playground try desperately to beat those tetherballs into submission.  They hang on the ropes--a purpose for which they were never intended.  And then, the sheer usage that the tetherball ropes/balls go through...WOW!  You must respect the rope.  Respect...Tether....Consequence of actions....as you can imagine, my mind began to circle...

Respect.  What does that mean?  Many of you know that I am a stickler for words and meaning.  Naturally I had to look it up.  The American Standard Dictionary defines respect as, "the state of being regarded with honor or esteem."  Then, to go back even further, the Hebrew root of the word respect means: "to look with favor, have regard for, pay attention to"  What does the Bible say about respect?  I want to take you way back to Genesis.  Here we find Cain and Abel.  Now Cain and Abel were brothers.  Cain was a farmer, and Abel a shepherd.  When the time came for offerings to be made to the LORD, both brothers brought their respective gifts. The kicker with this is that Abel's offering was looked on more favorably than Cain's.  Genesis 4:4-5 says, "Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.  And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering.  And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell."  We don't all the why's and how's of God's decision to accept one brother's offering over the other, but we are focusing on the aspect of respect...to look favorably upon...and to have regard for something.  The account of the offerings was the "lead-in" to the bigger set of issues, which was Cain's anger.  In his anger, he killed his brother.  This action completely bypassed any respect of his brother, his parents, and most of all God.  We are faced with disappointments day in and day out, but it's how we respond to those disappointments that really matter. 

The rope of the tetherball firmly holds the entire contraption together.  When the rope breaks, the ball will fall to the ground, thus making the rope and ball useless.  What remains standing is the pole to which the ball had previously been tethered.  In my long and drawn out way of thinking, the pole represents God our Father, the rope is us, and the ball is everything we hold on to.  See, even though the rope broke free, the pole was still usable.  It never wavered.  We are the ones that tend to break away from the safety and security that holds us in place.  And when we are disconnected from our Father, we tend to drop things in our lives.  They hang loosely by our sides, just as the tetherball did at the side of our principal.  But the pole, still standing strong, is ready and waiting for another rope to be attached...or the old one to be re-attached.  With God, we are restored, made new and alive again.  I challenge you this week to look at your rope.  Where is it fraying?  Where is it stretched to breaking?  Take a deep breath, and re-tie it to the Pole.  God is strong, and he is able.  With His grip securely holding you in place, you will be free to swing around and around and around.  

"Oh, to grace how great a debtor...Daily I'm constrained to be; Let that grace now like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee: Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love.  Here's my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above."  from Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."  Helen Keller

Comments

[Susan]

Thanks Cousin - just the words I need this week.