Sweetened-Condensed
Are you familiar with sweetened, condensed milk? I have four cans of it sitting in my pantry, probably well past their expiration date, because I rarely use it. But I love the idea of it. Extra sweet, and packed into a small can. Sweetened...condensed.
This reminds me of the first Bible I ever had. It was a big one that filled my entire lap and had
colorful pictures but the scriptures were just like that can of milk...sweetened and condensed. Important stories were retold in a way that a young child would understand and enjoy. I'm sure the writers meant well, but now that I'm an adult, it almost feels like a disservice.
Please hear me out on this. I'm not saying we shouldn't begin exposing our children to the stories in the Bible at a young age. That's very important, because as we are told in Proverbs 22:6 to
I didn't feel the earth shake. No beaming light from heaven shone down on my soaking wet head as the pastor pulled me up out of the freezing cold water of the musty baptismal. But I got to have my first communion that day. And that was all that mattered to me at the ripe, old age of eight. Getting my own beautiful white, leather covered King James Version of the Bible was pretty cool too. It was embossed with the word HOPE in the lower right corner on the cover. I liked that word. It was years later that my mother confessed that my Bible had been an 'oops' at the Bible book store so it was marked down. But I think God arranged for that to be my Bible. HOPE. That's what I needed.
My journey to adulthood has been a long and winding road, fraught with detours and pot holes. But at a 'rest area' somewhere in my early 20's, I found the Jesus that I needed. The one that I could really draw close to and trust with my life. The one I learned to love, not just 'accept'. He became real to me. As the road twisted and turned through valleys and along glorious mountain tops, Jesus remained a constant traveling companion. I'm embarrassed to say that while I often kept Him in the back seat, maybe once in a while I'd let Him ride shot gun, but most of the time He was confined to the trunk. I would allow Him back into the car when I needed Him...when I got a few dents in my fender and a couple flat tires. It took a head-on collision for me to finally ask Jesus to take the wheel.
Lucky for me, Jesus didn't bale out on me. He was patiently waiting for me to ask Him to drive. And he handed me the map. Hmmmm. Looks remarkably like that white, leather book I held in my hands so many years ago. HOPE. Yes. I'd found it.
But this version isn't sweetened-condensed. It's the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help me, God! And I'm so enthralled in it's pages, the words creating such images in my mind that bring each story to life in a way that I'd never experienced before. It's like seeing a favorite movie that you haven't seen in years...even though you know how the story began, and where it will end, you didn't remember certain details. Some things you may have not even noticed the last time you saw it. And so it is with this precious book. It's taken on new life right before my eyes and I can't seem to get enough.
This reminds me of a lesson I learned at a wonderful retreat, where every detail is meant to teach you something...first a little food, the next day a little more...and more...until by the last day your eating your weight in carbs but you still want more. That's when God spoke to me and told me that it's the same way with Him. You start with a little, then a little more...and more and more until you just hunger for Him and can't seem to get filled up.
My prayer is that I never get filled up. I want to stay hungry for Him. And I want that for you, too. And for everyone. As mothers and grandmothers we have an opportunity to begin the process of feeding our children the Word of God. First a little of the sweetened-condensed version. Then little more and a little more...until they pick it up and run with it on their own.
We have to be an example as well. Let the children 'catch you' praying on your knees or reading your Bible. They may not learn it until later...but they will catch just enough to bring them back for more.
Be blessed!
This reminds me of the first Bible I ever had. It was a big one that filled my entire lap and had
colorful pictures but the scriptures were just like that can of milk...sweetened and condensed. Important stories were retold in a way that a young child would understand and enjoy. I'm sure the writers meant well, but now that I'm an adult, it almost feels like a disservice.
Please hear me out on this. I'm not saying we shouldn't begin exposing our children to the stories in the Bible at a young age. That's very important, because as we are told in Proverbs 22:6 to
" Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."I was definitely trained up in the way I should go...well, sort of...my wise friend says that "It's not what's taught...it's what's caught that matters." I'm sure my mother was teaching me everything she knew (which is a lot!) but what I caught from all those years of sitting beside her, enjoying the sound of the delicate, thin pages of her Bible flipping to and fro as a sermon was preached, was that there was a God up in heaven and I'd better behave myself. I longed to be like the adults and take communion, but you had to be baptized to do that...and to be baptized I had to ask Jesus to come into my heart. So I did. And life went on.
I didn't feel the earth shake. No beaming light from heaven shone down on my soaking wet head as the pastor pulled me up out of the freezing cold water of the musty baptismal. But I got to have my first communion that day. And that was all that mattered to me at the ripe, old age of eight. Getting my own beautiful white, leather covered King James Version of the Bible was pretty cool too. It was embossed with the word HOPE in the lower right corner on the cover. I liked that word. It was years later that my mother confessed that my Bible had been an 'oops' at the Bible book store so it was marked down. But I think God arranged for that to be my Bible. HOPE. That's what I needed.
My journey to adulthood has been a long and winding road, fraught with detours and pot holes. But at a 'rest area' somewhere in my early 20's, I found the Jesus that I needed. The one that I could really draw close to and trust with my life. The one I learned to love, not just 'accept'. He became real to me. As the road twisted and turned through valleys and along glorious mountain tops, Jesus remained a constant traveling companion. I'm embarrassed to say that while I often kept Him in the back seat, maybe once in a while I'd let Him ride shot gun, but most of the time He was confined to the trunk. I would allow Him back into the car when I needed Him...when I got a few dents in my fender and a couple flat tires. It took a head-on collision for me to finally ask Jesus to take the wheel.
Lucky for me, Jesus didn't bale out on me. He was patiently waiting for me to ask Him to drive. And he handed me the map. Hmmmm. Looks remarkably like that white, leather book I held in my hands so many years ago. HOPE. Yes. I'd found it.
But this version isn't sweetened-condensed. It's the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help me, God! And I'm so enthralled in it's pages, the words creating such images in my mind that bring each story to life in a way that I'd never experienced before. It's like seeing a favorite movie that you haven't seen in years...even though you know how the story began, and where it will end, you didn't remember certain details. Some things you may have not even noticed the last time you saw it. And so it is with this precious book. It's taken on new life right before my eyes and I can't seem to get enough.
This reminds me of a lesson I learned at a wonderful retreat, where every detail is meant to teach you something...first a little food, the next day a little more...and more...until by the last day your eating your weight in carbs but you still want more. That's when God spoke to me and told me that it's the same way with Him. You start with a little, then a little more...and more and more until you just hunger for Him and can't seem to get filled up.
My prayer is that I never get filled up. I want to stay hungry for Him. And I want that for you, too. And for everyone. As mothers and grandmothers we have an opportunity to begin the process of feeding our children the Word of God. First a little of the sweetened-condensed version. Then little more and a little more...until they pick it up and run with it on their own.
We have to be an example as well. Let the children 'catch you' praying on your knees or reading your Bible. They may not learn it until later...but they will catch just enough to bring them back for more.
Be blessed!
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