"A thousand times I've failed, but His mercy remains. When I stumble again, I'll be caught in His grace."
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Hay Baling
Yesterday, I was running some errands and Moody radio was on while I drove. I don’t like talk radio much, but there was some good preaching happening, so I refrained from button punching. The pastor was discussing money, and he quoted Proverbs 13:11 “Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.” (NIV) All I could think about was a young man Brad and I know.
He’s had severe and troublesome ups and downs with money.
The pastor was ending his talk as I went into the grocery store, and when I came out, a new program had started and another pastor was teaching. He was talking about going to God to repair and restore troubled relationships. He said that a relationship can’t be truly righted without getting God involved. Again, I thought about this same young man.
He’s had a trouble filled marriage which has had devastating effects on his wife and children, their friendships, their extended families, and their livelihood.
At this point, this young man would tell you life is good. Though I wish him no ill will, I thought of him during these messages and wished he could hear them. I went home stoked and wistful, and I described this experience to Brad who said, “What you’re doing is called ‘hay baling,’ you’re taking God’s word and forking it over there and over there, you’re not taking it in for yourself.”
Whoa (sticking with a farm theme here), he was right. How many times do I sit in church and think, “So and so needs to hear this,” or “Wow, this message was written for so and so”? While many messages do touch me, I often long for friends to be encouraged or guided by words they are not hearing, and instead of letting those words teach me I think of the impact they could be having on others. Can you tell how adept I am at using that pitchfork?
The truth is ALL of God’s word is meant for me. I’m meant to hear it, read it, and take it in—to learn from every verse and store them up. Perhaps certain teachings are not applicable now, but I am still meant to take it all to heart, to wonder and know how it matters in my life and how it pertains to me living my life. It’s not meant to land lightly and be forked away.
That is so interesting. Me, on the other hand, never thinks about how a message would apply to others - I always apply it only to my life. I can't imagine that being good! Since it is clearly not "hay baling" I wonder what my tunnel-vision perspective is called (besides selfish)?
as i was reading your post, i was actually thinking the same thing. i'm often guilty of hay-bailing and it's a timely rebuke to take God's word personally. great post, and thoughtfully written!
sure beats my post about the bachelorette. i am feeling so shallow of late, but that's okay. i'm busy with work and shouldn't even BE blogging!
I'm guilty of this, too! I especially love the hay- bailing analogy. It really shows how lightly we treat God's word sometimes. We don't want to think about how a particular verse or sermon applies to our lives, so we kind of toss it to the side so that somebody else may learn from it.
3 comments:
That is so interesting. Me, on the other hand, never thinks about how a message would apply to others - I always apply it only to my life. I can't imagine that being good! Since it is clearly not "hay baling" I wonder what my tunnel-vision perspective is called (besides selfish)?
as i was reading your post, i was actually thinking the same thing. i'm often guilty of hay-bailing and it's a timely rebuke to take God's word personally.
great post, and thoughtfully written!
sure beats my post about the bachelorette. i am feeling so shallow of late, but that's okay. i'm busy with work and shouldn't even BE blogging!
I'm guilty of this, too! I especially love the hay- bailing analogy. It really shows how lightly we treat God's word sometimes. We don't want to think about how a particular verse or sermon applies to our lives, so we kind of toss it to the side so that somebody else may learn from it.
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