Greetings to you in the name of our gracious Savior. I am not sure if time is anyone's friend anymore, or if it ever was. We are down to four and a half weeks left of the quarter. Only two weeks from tomorrow until Call Day when I find out where I will be spending a year of my life. This is the "fun" part of the quarter where I find myself every quarter. Down to the final month left and looking ahead at all that is due is those four short weeks. I just want to kick myself for not working ahead. However, the fact I have been in this position five times already gives me the confidence I will survive another one. I have four tests, one this week and then three finals. I have two exegetical papers, one in Greek and one in Hebrew. Then I have two other papers and a quiz left. I just keep telling myself only nine more things to do and then it doesn't sound so bad. Really, if I can get the four papers done, I am not too worried about the tests. I am super excited to start my Greek exegetical; however, the Hebrew one is due before the Greek one so I had to force myself to put the Greek one aside and start the Hebrew one. My Hebrew one is on Exodus 40:33-38. I did not get to pick the text, which I think is one of the reasons I am less excited about it. Also, even though Greek is much more complex and complicated than Hebrew, it has stuck in my head better than my Hebrew has. So the fact I am struggling to remember some of the basics of Hebrew is another reason I am less excited about it. However, I am working through it and reteaching myself some of the things I have forgotten and it will get done. My Greek exegetical is on Matthew 21:18-22, where Jesus curses the fig tree. I told Dr. Gibbs who has written two of the three Matthew commentaries and is currently working on the third one that I was considering this text. His reply was that he hopes I figure out what it means because he is still not sure and has spent much time puzzling over it himself. He also told me if I do figure out what the text is doing, he will footnote me in his next commentary. I have nothing but doubt that I am actually able to work through this text in a new way that just seems to be the right answer, but hopefully in my weakness the Spirit will work His strength. As I am doing my reading of Matthew each week, I just cannot help but stop and wander through my mind why Jesus curses the fig tree, why Matthew includes it in his Gospel and especially where he does, and what is the real meaning behind it. This is why I chose to write my paper on it, because even if I do not come up with the grand solution, at least I will have thought thoroughly through it and researched all the possible answers. Again though, this week and next week is about trying to get the majority of my Hebrew one done. I also have to get my other two papers done next week. All of these things are due right after Call Day, so I am trying to have them done before Call Day so I can enjoy that time.
Other than all the homework, I have still been busy with work, sports, and life in general. We had another golf meet yesterday. I shot a pretty decent round but still lost in match play to the guy I was playing against. Match play is when you try to win more holes than the guy you are matched against. The overall strokes do not count for anything. He only beat me by two strokes, but he beat me five holes, we tied two and I beat him two. I should have tied him on three other holes but my putter did not want to work at all. I had four par putts that I missed by mere inches and was left with four tap in bogie putts. It was frustrating but still a fun free round of golf. Our team still won overall even with my loss. Coach moved me up to third though instead of fourth, and I know I would have beaten the fourth guy easily. I am just glad to be getting out, playing, and playing decently well.
I figured out on May 26th when I do the entire service at my field work church because Pastor is on vacation, that I can use my sermon I wrote for class last quarter. That was a nice relief because it saves me the time of writing another sermon that first week of summer. I am also down to five Sundays left to do my adult Bible study. This last week we had double our normal class size because of all the extra people who stayed for the pot luck afterward. We got into some really good discussions and I hope maybe a few of them will come back now that they have seen the kind of stuff we talk about in there.
My thought for today comes from my reading of Matthew. Chapter 5 verse 37 which reads in the ESV, "Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil." This verse is part of Jesus' sermon on the mount and it is in the section on oaths. Jesus is telling the people not to take an oath on heaven, the throne of God, or multiple other things. He does not want you to take an oath on these things but rather just let your yes be yes and your no be no. What He is really saying here is be a trustworthy person who others believe when you say yes or no without an oath. In our modern world I think of the saying, "You pinky promise?" If you did not trust someone was actually going to do what they said they would do, you would ask them to pinky promise so you knew they were serious. If that person had been a trustworthy person who you knew always did everything they said, you wouldn't have to ask if they pinky promise. It also makes me think of the old western movies where the guys who were always the stand out menly men would say, "I give you my word." They gave you their word because their word was worth something; it meant they were serious about doing it. However, I fear if you told someone that today, they would not even know what you mean. "Our word" today doesn't have any value behind it because nobody trusts anybody. We have become so untrustworthy to each other, "our word" has no weight behind it to someone who doesn't know us. And depending on how we have lived our lives, it may not have any weight behind it to even those who do know us. But that's why I love this verse. We should live lives that show we are trustworthy, responsible people who actually do what we say we are going to do. So my goal and I dare you to try it, follow through with everything you say you are going to do, even if it is the tiniest little thing. Then people will trust us and we can truly let our yes be yes and our no be no. This is what Christ calls us to do, and with His help we strive to live as He calls us to live. All Praise be to Him who revealed Himself and His Father's will to us so that we, with the guidance of His Spirit, might live a life that is pleasing and honoring to Him.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Please give us Your Spirit and let Him strengthen us and guide us so that we live the life You want us to live. Let us be trustworthy and responsible people so that all we do is for Your honor and glory. Let our lives be a witness to the faith You have given us, so that others may be brought into the same faith. Make us Your faithful children at all times and in all we do. In the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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