Handle with care

Our Daily Bread
I have a silly joke with some friends.  I am a big strapping butch bear.  They are smallish, skinny men.  On occasion, one of them will accidentally bump into me in the kitchen or walking around the mall.  I will look at them with hurt in my eyes and say "Ow!"  The small bump could not have hurt me if they tried.  It is just another one of my silly jokes!

As it often the case, the devotional spoke to me where I live this week!  I have been thinking and praying a lot about the Bible study readings for my class.  There are a lot of details that are not clear.  There are a lot of seemingly contradictions in the different sources of the same stories.  The study materials finally spelled it out for me -- there is no concrete answer.  The writings are to tell us about the times of Noah or the times of Cain and Abel.  There are some specific themes thrown in that are so subtle at times that they escape us because we come from a different culture than the writers and editors.

So what are the overriding themes?  See the Teaching Tuesday entry below!  hehehe

Lord, thank you for your Word.  Please help us handle with care as we read and study and share it with others.

Teaching Tuesday
I had two weeks of study to catch up on during and after vacation.  The first week was the story of Cain and Abel.  The second week was the Noah/Flood story.

Cain and Abel
There are a LOT of questions about this story.  There are a lot of assumptions that people make from just a cursory read of the story.  From what I understand, God did not like the sacrifice of Cain because of his attitude (not because it wasn't an animal sacrifice).  The other things I got out of the story are: yes, there is punishment for our sins and yes, God's grace is with us even during these times.  God cast Cain away from his tribe, but in his grace, marked him as a protected man.  There is a lot of history there that needs to be explained.  Try reading some more about it on your own!

Noah/Flood story
The entire point of the Flood story is that sin had become so rampant on earth that God could not have a relationship with man any longer (that's how I understand it).  Then God noticed Noah.  God's grace shone through again to mankind.  I felt sad when I understood that God had to go to "plan B" with the human race after the flood.  It made me think of my own life and how often God has to go to Plan B or C or D or AA or BB whatever because of my stupid actions.  God's grace does abound if we seek him!

I hope this helps a little bit.  My point is to look at the overall themes of the stories and the sources from which they came.  There details are too confusing!

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Let go, my friends!  God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!