Luke 15:11-32
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isa. 53:6
My wife got me a GPS (Global Positioning System) for Christmas! I had been hinting for a long time that I wanted one. She gave no indication that she was impressed with my great need. When we found them deeply discounted and we were about to leave for a 1600 mile trip to visit our son’s family in California for Christmas, however, I was able to “sell†her on the wonderful benefits of the technological toy.
This morning I took my wife to work. I didn’t need to use the GPS because I knew the route well. There is still some new to wear off of the little wonder so I hooked it up and turned it on. It was still programmed from the previous day to navigate to my home. As we left our drive and headed toward her workplace the lady’s voice on the GPS began to try to get me to go to the destination that was programmed in the GPS – my home! We had just gone one block when the GPS lady told me to turn right. She wanted to take me around the block and back to my house. This continued throughout the whole trip to my wife’s workplace. I was amused at the insistent effort of the electronic lady as she tried persistently to get me to go back home.
Later as I drove on toward my workplace I mused over the situation. This seemed to be so much like the voice of God that speaks to us when we stray away from His will. He talks to us step by step along the way trying to persuade us to make a U turn and come back to Him. No matter how far we stray, He is there by our side. His voice is clear. The message is consistent. The confidence is sure . . . we can get back home if we will just turn from our own way and return to Him.
Dr. Gayle Woods
Job 38:4-8, 22-29; 42:1-3
No person has lived without wondering how all that is created came into existence. Job’s description may seem simplistic to the sophisticated. It is a statement of fact and of faith. The Christian knows that it is an inspired and accurate record of actuality. Even those who are Christians will at times tamper with the sacred truth of God’s creation.
Job is considered to be the oldest book of the Old Testament. It is interesting, therefore, to notice his apologetic for the creation of the earth and all other creation by God. In a poetic manner the author chides the reader reminding him that God has been here much longer that the oldest of creation and is actually the author of all that “lives, or moves, or has its being.” He says, “Where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” The word for foundation is musada. Its primary meaning is “to found or to fix firmly” and it came to mean foundation. At times it is translated “to establish.” It means in a metaphorical sense, “that which cannot be moved.”
In addition the question is asked, “Who hath laid the measures thereof if thou knowest?” The Hebrew word for measure is madad. It occurs fifty-three times and refers to measuring lengths or distances. Does God have a big tape measure by which he measures the size of the earth, stars and planets? No. The word is used in a symbolic manner to refer to the careful and correct design of God’s creation. God measures the oceans of the earth (Isa 40:12), the multitudes of future Israelites (Hos 1:10), the stars of heaven (Jer 33:22; 31:27), the territories of the earth for His chosen people (Psa 60:6), and the people that He will judge (Hab 3:6). Thus this term turns from the picture of a measuring rod or rule to that of a calculator but all the while refers to His exact knowledge of His creation and His supervision of the same.
Dr. Gayle Woods
