Omer Redden

1 Chronicles 7-9

Mighty warriors

Chief men

Heads of fathers’ houses

Those seem to be the key phrases of the section. You get the idea, if you aren’t using your brain, that it was just a bunch of men back in those days. But don’t be mistaken, there were plenty of women, because all of these men had to come out of somewhere. That’s the sad part though, the women were really only seen as baby makers. And while it’s true they do a darn good job at that, women can and do fulfill many other roles. We must remember, this was written many, many moons ago in a distant land.

Also in this section, we see a brief interruption to make note of a robbery on Ephraim and his family’s livestock. It seems random, but perhaps it gives us a clue into how infrequent crimes of theft were in those days.

We also see, starting in chapter 9, that Judah was taken into exile because of their breach of faith. Which makes me think: In Christian pop culture today, we think God is with us no matter what. He will never let go, no matter how bad circumstances are, no matter how bad we are. If we sin, He will still love us, bless us, pamper us, because after all, we are the King’s kids.

But what about discipline? Chastening? A little smack from His rod and staff? If we discipline our kids, will not the Lord do the same with His? He disciplines those whom He loves and He does it for our benefit, just as we love our kids and discipline them for their benefit. It may not seem like it at the time, but afterward, it yields good fruit. Surely, for Judah this was the case.

Perhaps, even more difficult, is answering the question: will we be disciplined as a nation for our sins? Think on that for a bit.

In closing, may it be said of us as it was of Phineas, the Lord was with him. And like those in the latter 1/2 of chapter 9, may we too find our place of service in the Lord’s house.

1 Chronicles 4-6

Does it ever occur to you that this book wasn’t written in the 21st century, the 20th century, nor even the Middle Ages? It certainly wasn’t written in English. Just look at those names: Idbash, Hazzelelponi, Haahashtari, Jekuthiel.

You may recognize one name in there, especially if you were a Christian in the early 2000s. The name: Jabez, in 4:9. His prayer was turned into a book and was a best seller. Millions in the bank for some guy named Bruce, who stumbled across this name Jabez, and his prayer, in some obscure genealogies.

It has been many years since I read The Prayer of Jabez, but I must say I like his prayer. I even pray it myself sometimes. “Lord, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I might not cause pain.” You can try it too. God just might hear it and do something about it, like he did for Jabez.

In closing, I want to be like the potters of Netaim and Gederah–who lived in the King’s service. I also want to find a land like the guys in 4:34-40: a rich land, good pastures…a broad, quiet, peaceful land.

1 Chronicles 1-3

2.26.13

Bob Dylan wrote an autobiography called Chronicles. Right now, it looks much more appealing than these first 9 chapters. Names, names, and more names.

One time, I counted them all up, or at least a good portion of them. I’ll find that stat and post it in the near future. But, for the sake of simplicity, so we don’t become bogged down at the start, let me lay down an outline.

Chapter 1: Adam to Jacob
Chapter 2: Jacob to David
Chapter 3: David to Captivity

Special notes:

Nimrod was the first to be a “mighty man”
In Peleg’s days the earth was divided
Er was evil in the sight of the Lord and God put him to death
Achan was the troubler of Israel who broke faith in the matter of devoted things
Hezron was married at age 60. His son Jar had 23 cities in Gilead. Let’s just say 2:21-24 is messy
Seled died childless. So did Jether
Sheshan had only daughters, but he arranged for a male slave and daughter to marry. They have a child, a son
Jeconiah was a captive

Why do these first nine chapters of Chronicles matter? All these genealogies affirm, in painstaking detail, the line of Christ.

New Habits

Sometimes we need to adopt new habits and kick old ones. Here’s what I mean.

I kicked:

Keeping a monthly budget. Why? It was becoming a time waster and a source of worry rather than a help.
Creating mental to-do lists. If you remember them, they drive you nuts. If you forget them, you get mad about it. As an alternative, I write out my to-do lists and only keep the necessities.
Eating sweets everyday. Although I can get away with it now, I won’t be able to in a few years. It will catch up with me. Thus, I better quit now. Only holidays and special occasions.

I started:

Reading a book per day. How? I retire to my office at 8:30pm, Monday thru Thursday, and Sunday. I skim read or speed read, depending on what the content of the book necessitates. Only 3 hours per book, max.
Preparing a mini-teaching per week. It’s a good exercise to draw together the things I read, write, or meditate on thru any given week. I share it on Friday nights with a small group of guys.
Pushups, situps, and stretching. I hate doing these, not because I hate exercise, but because I would rather bike or play softball. It’s just not warm enough yet.

That’s what I’m doing. What are you doing? What have you kicked and what are you starting?

A Time to Play

The word “play” is derived from the Old English term “plegan” meaning to dance, to leap for joy, to rejoice, and to be glad. The other term it comes from “plega” means to exercise or occupy oneself, to busy oneself.

Often times, play involves both exercising and rejoicing, occupying ourselves while being glad. So we know what play is, but why do we do it? And how do we do it?

First, the why. Do we play to rid ourselves of excess energy? Do we play to learn new roles (like girls playing house or boys playing Tonka trucks? Do we play to relieve mental fatigue? To get our bodies to relax? To have an outlet (when angry, frustrated, etc.)? Do we play to arouse endorphins and adrenaline? To get caught in the moment? To learn life lessons (endurance, teamwork, etc.)?

Perhaps, it’s a combination of all of them. Or perhaps it depends on the circumstance or activity.

For me, most of these reasons have come into play at some point in time. In the course of life, I’m sure I’ve played for every one of those reasons, and I’m sure you have too. But I’m curious about the how. How do we play?

I play in odd ball ways. I write. I read. I organize. These are play activities for my soul. When the weather is nice, I bike and play softball. All these activities bring freedom; I’m good at them; I’m motivated as a result of doing them; and they positively impact me. So what about you?

What do you do to play, to exercise or occupy yourself in a rejoicing and leap-for-joy-kind-of-way?

Why Live?

Sometimes I fear that life is about big factories, big banks, big churches, and big houses.

Or maybe it’s about who scores the most points, who has the most money, who has the most sex, who drives the nicest car.

Then I go to a funeral and remember its about how many people you’re life affected and what type of affect that was.

Lawn Care: Curse or Blessing?

Early in the Bible, God creates man and puts him to work in a garden. Awhile later, man screws up. As a result, God tells man he will still have to work the land, but now his work will be more difficult. He will have to sweat and toil, fighting the thorns and such. People usually refer to this as “The Curse.” Man “falls” and God pronounces “the curse.”

Any man who has ever had to do physical labor knows what this curse thing means. It’s not that all men hate physical labor; in fact, many would say they enjoy it. The curse, however, comes when things don’t go right: when you work hard and make no progress, when you work hard and no one takes notice, when you work hard and it doesn’t go according to plan. The thorns, the extra toil and sweat. In these moments, men are painfully aware of the curse.

But I wonder, could working the land be a blessing?

Flash back to last Saturday morning. We had unusually warm temperatures in Mount Vernon, Illinois. We didn’t need jackets and I was considering putting on a pair of shorts. Mid-60s, early January. Because of the nice weather, I decided to do lawn work. We had leaves all over the yard, brush all over our landscaping and flowers–it looked atrocious. So I worked the land, and while I did, I pondered this notion:

I passed by the field of a sluggard,
by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.

See, I work hard in other others of life, but when it comes to lawn care, I’ve been lax. But thinking about this proverb, I realized there’s a link between poverty and not caring for your environment. And the more I thought about it, the converse might be true. Wealth and riches might be tied to taking care of your land. Think about it: what does the lawn look like in a trailer park or a poverty stricken area? What do lawns look like in the wealthy neighborhoods?