Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear ones.

On one side of me is our unique black cat, Emy. On the other side of me is this strange new dog curled up on the dog bed. Both seem willing now to allow the other to coexist. Shortly we will take the dog out for his second walk/jog.

I don’t know if there’s anything I did yesterday that’s worth mentioning, but I’ll mention a laugh I had the other day during a telephone conversation. I had occasion to use an expression I seem to use often—“I have a good memory, it just doesn’t last very long.” The guy I was speaking with obviously has a cranial computer more brilliant than mine. He responded, “Well, I’m the other way around—I have a very bad memory, and it lasts a long time.”

Do you agree that MEMORY really is at the heart of a HEART AFTER GOD?

Moving right along, it’s about time to move along.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Having spent a little time as a father of young children, knowing something of my own love and heart’s desire for their safety and well-being, along with the daunting difficulty of influencing these young individuals with minds of their own so as to keep them out of trouble and on track with blessedness, I can identify with Moses’ heart, and beyond that, with the heart of Father God. And now that my children are adults, there is no reduction of my love and heart’s desire for them, even though direct protection, influence, and discipline are pretty much over with. The clay has become quite solidified.

Even now, with some of my grandchildren, I sometimes struggle deeply over how and why they are so hell-bent on raising it—so prone to disobedience and rebellion. They cannot seem to get their dirty little hearts wrapped around the FACT that to trust, obey, and do what is right is really in their best interests. It makes parents and grandparents happy, brothers and sisters happy, God happy, and allows them to be rewarded with blessings, benefits, and good things they never could (at least, shouldn’t) receive while in their rebellion. It’s the only arrangement that allows peace to prevail—a little taste of heaven on earth.

So—what else is new? What is true of little children in relation to their parents and grandparents, is true of adults in relation to their Sovereign Parent. And there is really nothing very new in the theme of Moses’ plea to Israel in these chapters. Over and over he repeats the same message—the essential need for a HEART AFTER GOD. Over and over he injects the determining IF clause between the reward of BLESSING or the consequence of CURSING (11:26-28). Over and over he challenges them to remember and never forget (9:7). He knows too well that if they don’t, they will.