166 miles to my destination, have a full tank of gas, I don’t smoke, it’s dark… and… I’m running late!
To the Land of Lincoln. To the uninitiated the Land of Lincoln would be the state of Illinois.
“Who is Lincoln?”
Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States of America.
This Lincoln…
“Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain–that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom–and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”” https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/abraham-lincoln/
I was headed just over the border.
To conduct my first, out of state, speaking engagement, in front of a mens group, gathering for a range day. Having guns, bows, and throwing ax activities.
My friend who arranged the whole thing offered up this word of encouragement…
“I know you’ll bring the message Dave, but just so were clear, remember, they’ll all be armed.”
Duly noted.
The topic was to be: PRIDE
And I titled it: Why do we echo the sins of our fathers?
Like me, I bet when you heard “pride” and were thinking how it pertains to men, you had a pretty good idea of how this speaking engagement would pan out, I did but I was wrong.
Maybe a well used bible verse crossed your mind… “Pride comes before the fall” Proverbs 16:18
My initial excitement about garnering the gig had me running off and starting “my” notes.
Then as I was about five pages into preparation the Holy Spirit gave me a look (like he does) and I knew I needed a break.
So we grabbed a cup of coffee and stepped outside to check on the garden I put in this year. As I marveled at the lush greenery, caused by an excess of rain this year, I thought…
“Look what I did”
And before the words had even dissipated into the warm summer breeze the Holy Spirit took a drink of his coffee and just… looked upwards, at the sun.
As I followed his gaze upward the warmth of that summer sun hit me… and so did the point the Holy Spirit was making.
Then as it dawned on me, all I could think to say was, “I’m so sorry.”
My little garden I put in cost me, outta pocket, less than twenty dollars. Let me explain.
My wife asked if we could do a garden this year, but only if, “You don’t go tilling everything up.”
Ok dear.
So I grabbed some free pallets from work; some free dirt from the city; used some maple leaf mulch from under my maple tree; and built an irrigation system from some left over pex tubing I had; the only thing I purchased… laid out cash for… was some seeds… and even half of what I needed my daughter brought home from work… for free, so I spent less than twenty bucks and put in watermelon, snap peas, cucumbers and tomatoes.
And with the excess rain I only used the irrigation system one time.
And my thought was, “Look what I did for next to nothing!”
But there I was feeling the warm sun on my face and the weight of what God has already done.
The Holy Spirit laid on my heart that…
I didn’t create the sun; or dirt; or plants that can extract all their nutrients from said dirt; or pollination; or the insects it takes for pollination to occur… I didn’t build those little buggers; or H2O and evaporation, or evaporation turning into rain; nor did I organize all of that so that the sun stayed out long enough for those plants to get their eight hours of sunlight a day to take advantage of a growing season that God has laid out in the stars themselves… it goes on and on… of what God has already done for me, so that I could have a moment of joy in the garden with my granddaughters as I remembered being in the garden with my mom when I was just a little boy.
So… I ripped out “my” notes that I had thus far and said, “You’re right, I don’t know these guys or what they need to hear. What would you have me tell them?”
And he gave me the book of Jeremiah, chapters 7 thru 11.
With an emphasis on Jeremiah 7:13 and 8:6, Israel echoing the sins of their fathers then (as we do today), God says,
13 “While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer.“
6 “I have listened attentively,
but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent of their wickedness,
saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course
like a horse charging into battle.“
There it is, in black and white, we pursue our own course, to our detriment.
I know I have in the past… and was in the process of doing so getting prepared for this talk.
BUT… but… I’ve grown, grown closer to God, I know who Jesus is, he came and got me, and I know the Holy Spirit and try my hardest to hear him and what he would have me do, as he has shown me here.
It wasn’t only for the men at the mens retreat who needed to hear these words and read through these chapters… I needed it also.
The day went well. The message was received. I was not shot, being the messenger and all!
And a gentleman added this at the end during discussion, “You know that reminds me of the time Joshua didn’t inquire of the Lord.”
We are men, as men, especially American men, it’s hard for us to come to a king and ask daily, “What would you have me do today Lord?”
We don’t inquire of him, we just charge off and get sh$$t done!
But what if we’re not supposed to be doing that?
As The Emerging Man, writing to ENCOURAGE, EQUIP & ENGAGE with you, I’d also like to encourage you to take a look at those chapters in Jeremiah, you don’t hear them very often, even though they are echoed all across the New Testament, and… while you’re in there take a look at the book of Joshua… chapter 9.
theemergingman.com 