YGT: What's more Disgusting than a Wet Willy?

In Mark 7, Jesus Christ shows that he wasn't very concerned with keeping himself clean.  At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus' disciples don't wash their hands.  He scolds the Pharisees for being consumed with the cleanliness of their hands over their hearts.  At the end of the chapter, Jesus dirties his hands by healing a man who was deaf and mute.

This man needed a miracle.  Jesus obliged by sticking his fingers in the man's ear - possibly the first (un)wet willy in recorded history!  What's worse than a wet willy? Well, what if the person who put their fingers in your ear then put their finger on your tongue?!?!? That's precisely what Jesus did.

33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 

 (Pardon me while I take a shot of Peptol Bismol) Jesus, that's nasty!  Why does Jesus defile himself and this man (touching the tongue of another person)?  Why wasn't this a pristine healing where Jesus just touched him on the forehead or spoke a divine word?  

Jesus may have been establishing a pattern with this healing.  This isn't the first time Jesus uses the disgusting to heal us.   Jesus spits on a man's eyes in the next chapter, an act that immediately defiled people in biblical times.  Later, after a brutal beating and being spit on himself, Jesus used his mangled body to save our souls.  God knew this would make us queasy, but He chose this death anyway.  

What can we take away from this?  Jesus is at work in the disgusting moments.  Jesus didn't reveal Himself in sterile conditions.  Instead, he comes in the spit-up of the baby, the earwax of the elderly, and the bed pan of the hospitalized.  For every person who finds themselves ministering to a drunken friend or sweating uncontrollably in a foreign land or recovering from another wet willy, be encouraged.  Christ is with you.  

Lord, forgive us for our sterility.  Remind us that you came from a clean heaven to a dirty earth.  Your journey was a beautiful and disgusting one.  Lord, please strengthen every missionary, nurse, and caretaker.  They are shining symbols of Your glory.  We're grateful You got disgusting to come and get us.  In the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, Amen.

Convicted,

j.a.g.

YGT: The First Earth Day (and Night)

Today, April 22, is Earth Day.  Humankind often gets confused with the earth's place in our lives.  The first earth day reveals the priority God placed on creation.  Creation is God's first act in human history.  In the beginning God CREATED.  After God created the earth, then He put humankind in the world.  When we disregard the animals, plants, and environment around us, we disrespect the God who made us.  

Although earth is under our feet, it's not beneath us.  Although it's above us, it's not beyond us.  Although it's everywhere, it never pushes us out.

This is the tragedy of a short memory of creation.  God has been gracious enough to place us in a world that didn't need us.  We are the tenants, not the landlords.  Today we honor God's first task, not humanity, but earth.  In honor of the day, below is a slideshow of the splendor all around us (click on the images to view).  Take time to reflect on Genesis 1 (the Earth part).  The evening and the morning were the first day... 

Click for another amazing slideshow by The Nature Conservancy

Lord, we appreciate Your creativity.  Please remind us that Your genius didn't begin with us, but it started with the light and the seas.  We trust Your order and providence.  Please forgive us for forgetting this.  Thank You for giving us such a place to call home.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Appreciating,

j.a.g.

----------------------------------------------

The History of Creation
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 

4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 

5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 

7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters whichwere under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 

10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.