Thursday, August 28, 2008

loved ...


"Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." John 11:5

Jesus does not want all His loved ones to be of one mould or color. He does not seek uniformity. He will not remove our individuality; He only seeks to glorify it. He loved "Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus."

"Jesus loved Martha." Martha is our Biblical example of a practical woman; "Martha served." In that place is enshrined her character.

"And her sister." Mary was contemplative, spending long hours in deep communion with the unseen. We need the Marys as well as the Marthas - the deep contemplative souls, whose spirits shed a fragrant restfulness over the hard and busy streets. We need the souls who sit at Jesus' feet and listen to His word, and then interpret the sweet gospels to a tired and weary world.

"And Lazarus." What do we know about him? Nothing! Lazarus seems to have been undistinguished and commonplace. Yet Jesus loved him. What a huge multitude come under the category of "nobodies"! Their names are on the register of births, and on the register of deaths, and the space between is a great obscurity. Thank God for the common place people! They turn our houses into homes; they make life restful and sweet. Jesus loves the common place. Here then is a great, comforting thought: we are all loved - the brilliant and the common place, the dreamy and the practical.

"Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus."

- Rev. J.H. Howett, D.D.

"Does the wildflower bloom less carefully and are the tints less perfect because it rises beside the fallen tree in the thick woods where mankind never enters? Let us not bemoan the fact that we are not great, and that the eyes of the world are not upon us."

page 244 from August 28th's Springs in the Valley ...

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i loved the reading this morning ... i loved it because i needed to be reminded that God loves me - me, who lives a quiet life ... unknown ... simple ... yet, my life IS the Lord's ... to do with what He wants ... and if He chooses to mould me in this way - so that i can bloom for His eyes only ... then i rest in that ... there are many like me ... and each one IS beloved to the Lord ...

you know the saying "they broke the mould when they made you" ... well, i think that God broke the mould when He made me ... He broke the mould when He made you ... after each of us was made - the mould was broken ... so our lives may be "common place", but there is nothing common place about the child of God - we are well loved by our Father ...

13 comments:

Cathy said...

That is a great, very encouraging post, Saija. Our God is an awesome God. And I love that picture.

Catherine said...

"Does the wildflower bloom less carefully and are the tints less perfect because it rises beside the fallen tree in the thick woods where mankind never enters?"

Now that's funny -- this morning I mailed you a postcard with a picture of Texas wildflowers on the front. I must have been reading your mind. :)

Unknown said...

I love to see a field of wildflowers, what beauty!!! And I love the psalm 91 on your post below... Blessings on you

Sita said...

Such a beautiful post..and comforting...thank you..
Sita

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

Powerful thoughts this night. I'm blown away by with the teaching of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus kind of faith. My life has mirrored them all.

Hi. I'm elaine, visiting at the prompt of my friend Sita. I hope to revisit often.

God's blessings and peace to you in your journey. May the lavish, extravagant, and well-crafted love of Christ be your portion this night and in the 'morrow.

peace~elaien

Felisol said...

Dear Saija,
You sure are important to me with your deep thinking and artistic way of combing pictures and text.
I am always richer and enlightened after a visit at your site.
God bless you.
From Felisol

Anonymous said...

Saija,

Very often I find myself struggling with feelings and thoughts similar to yours in this post... However, last summer someone totally unknown to me said to me in prayer: "It isn't minor what you're doing." It made me cry.

You know, in Finland there's a saying "The left hand doesn't know what the right one is doing."
Remember the story of the widow who gave her entire living as an offer - the two small copper coins? (Mark. 12:42) I bet she thought it was nothing, it was not enough - and yet, two thousand years later we're reading about her in the Bible! It probably was small for her, giving her a feeling of not being enough, but to Jesus it was huge!

I'm trying to tell you that you don't know how God sees your life. Your left hand probably has no idea what huge things your right hand is doing! Because your life is in God's hand, and as you said, there is nothing common place about the child of God! :)

Hugs and blessings!

-e-

daisymarie said...

This was such a new perspective to me. I love learning new things. Thanks for sharing!!!

Mimi said...

beautiful post today my friend...
we need to be reminded that God does love us just the way we are...

Pat said...

Beautiful and moving post. I haven't been blogging much because my "common life" has been to filled with other matters. You always touch my heart just when I need it.
Thank you my sweet friend.

Susan said...

A beautiful devotional. Thanks.
Susan

Fred said...

With Hurricane Gusav hitting the U.S. this morning, that picture can bring comfort to many people who are getting pounded with wind and rain as we speak.

Anonymous said...

how many time i do not do what i want to do but do what i dont want to do