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Posted on 03/31/2014 8:55:41 PM PDT by JustAmy
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Read: Matthew 20:1-16
The play Amadeus tells of a composer in the 18th century seeking to understand the mind of God. The devout Antonio Salieri has the earnest desire, but not the aptitude, to create immortal music. It infuriates him that God has instead lavished the greatest of musical genius ever known on the impish Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The play poses the same question as the book of Job, only inverted. The author of Job wonders why God would punish the most righteous man on the face of the earth; the author of Amadeus ponders why God would reward someone so undeserving.
Jesus’ parable of the workers and their grossly unfair paychecks confronts this scandal head-on. Some people who have been idly standing around are hired by a landowner at “the eleventh hour” (Matt. 20:6-7). The other workers, who have been serving him all day long, are shocked when each receives identical pay. What employer in his right mind would pay the same amount for one hour’s work as for 12!
Jesus’ story makes no economic sense, and that was His intent. He was giving us a parable about grace, which cannot be calculated like a day’s wages. God dispenses gifts, not wages.
Weinie would be really mad!
LOL ... Weinie needs a kitten.
Hi Lonestar and Weinie. Happy Dogurday/Caturday.
Hope you are having a beautiful spring.
Happy Caturday, LTOS. Enjoy your nap.
I want to get outside and enjoy this lovely day. In a couple of hours, I will decide that it is a great afternoon for a nap.
Lynn-Dah_The-Dog had surgery yesterday, and is STILL sleeping it off.
She probably has the right idea.
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(((((Goodnight, and God Bless)))))
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Read: Deuteronomy 30:11-20
What is God’s will for my life? The question haunted me when I was growing up. What if I couldn’t find it? What if I didn’t recognize it? God’s will seemed like a needle in a haystack. Hidden. Obscured by lookalikes. Outnumbered by counterfeits.
But my view of God’s will was wrong because my view of God was wrong. God takes no pleasure in seeing us lost, wandering, searching. He wants us to know His will. He makes it clear, and He makes it simple. He doesn’t even make it multiple-choice. He gives just two choices: “life and good” or “death and evil” (Deut. 30:15). In case the best choice isn’t obvious, He even says which one to choose: “Choose life” (v.19). To choose life is to choose God Himself and obey His Word.
When Moses addressed the Israelites for the last time, he pleaded with them to make the right choice by observing “all the words of this law. . . . Because it is your life” (32:46-47). God’s will for us is life. His Word is life. And Jesus is the Word. God may not give a prescription for every decision, but He gave us a perfect example to follow—Jesus. The right choice may not be easy, but when the Word is our guide and worship is our goal, God will grant us the wisdom to make life-affirming choices.
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Thank you Meg.
Happy Spring to you
We are trying here.
Bless you, Rus! It will be in the 50s here today..We may get rain..It has drizzled a bit.
I’d love for spring to last a bit before going directly to summer as we often do.
The Legend of the Bluebonnet
Long ago in the land we now call Texas there was a drought. It had not rained for a long, long time. The ground was so dry and parched that nothing grew and the animals and the Comanche Indian people who lived there were dying of hunger. The people had danced and drummed and prayed to the Great Spirit for rain, but no rain had come. Finally the leaders of the tribe climbed a high hill to pray and ask the Great Spirit to tell them what they could do to bring rain.
All the people waited for the leaders to come down the hill to tell them what they must do. Waiting with them was a little girl. Her name was She-Who-Lives-Alone. She was called that because both of her parents and her grandmother had already died of starvation and she lived alone. She listened carefully when the leaders announced that the Great Spirit had said that for rain to come the people had to make a sacrifice. They had to give up something very valuable to them to bring rain.
When She-Who-Lives-Alone went back to her tipi for the night she thought about what the leaders had announced and wondered what valuable thing she could give up. She had only one thing that she loved. It was the doll she slept with every night that her grandmother had made for her out of buffalo skin. Its face was painted with berry juice and in its hair were the bright blue feathers of a blue jay. This night, as she lay down with the doll in her arms she could not sleep. She thought of all the people who would die if rain did not come and she knew what she must do.
She got up in the dark and crept out of the tipi to the fire. She kissed her doll and said, “Oh Great Spirit, here is my doll. It is the only thing I have to give. Please take her and send rain to my people.” Then she threw her doll into the fire and she lay down beside the fire until it grew cold. Then she scooped up the ashes and threw them to the winds and went back into her tipi.
When she woke up the next morning a gentle rain was falling and in a few days, masses of bight blue flowers the color of the feathers in doll’s hair began growing, spreading a carpet of blue all over the hills and valleys. The people saw them and knew they were a sign from the Great Spirit who had been touched by the sacrifice of She-Who-Lives-Alone and they changed her name to One-Who-Dearly-Loves-Her-People.
To this day, every spring, the hills and valleys of Texas are covered with the beautiful blue flowers called bluebonnets and the Comanche people remember the sacrifice of the little girl they renamed One-Who-Dearly-Loves-Her-People.
A Comanche Legend
The Legend of the Bluebonnet
The Texas fields are covered
With a blanket of deep blue.
But for a little Indian girl,
This would not be true.
Texas land was buried and dry.
Rains just would not come.
Indians danced and prayed for rain,
And beat upon their drums.
The Chief made a proclamation.
He appealed to one and all.
A prized possession must be sacrificed
Before the rains would fall.
The Indian camp was silent,
While each person searched his heart.
But when it came to sacrifice,
With possessions they would not part.
Suddenly a little girl stepped forth,
Holding her blue-clad doll.
She placed it in the roaring fire
and raindrops began to fall.
The rain brought forth the grass,
Among its blades, flowers of blue.
To be a sign for all the time
Of a love so pure and true.
Author Unknown
Lovely Bluebonnet Legend and poem, yorkie...Thank you so much for sharing. We have had some light rain..I am thankful!
I wish you a blessed Lord’s Day.
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