| | So much is going on in my life right now. I can honestly say that if I were married to anyone else, I really don't think I would be able to keep going. God has blessed me with an AWESOME husband. Every time I start getting a little melancholy about anything, Jeremy is right there to not only pray with and for me, but give me such incredible counsel. Jeremy is not in a position of "pastor" anymore (one who is paid full time to study the Word of God and teach), but I can say that he IS the pastor of the Hudson home. Last night, I needed Godly counsel about something that was happening ministry wise and Jeremy gave me some homework to do. He wants me to read the book of Nehemiah and let it soak in.
Just a few moments ago, I sat down with The Message translation of the Bible and I started reading the forward from Eugene Peterson for the book of Nehemiah. It spoke volumes to me and I want to share it with you.
"Separating life into distinct categories of 'sacred' and 'secular' damages, sometimes irreparably, any attempt to live a whole and satisfying life, a coherent life with meaning and purpose, a life lived to the glory of God. Nevertheless, the practice is widespread. But where did all these people come up with the habit of separating themselves and the world around them into these two camps? It surely wasn't from the Bible. The Holy Scriptures, from beginning to end, strenuously resist such a separation.
The damage to life is most obvious when the separation is applied to daily work. It is common for us to refer to the work of pastors, priests, and missionaries as 'sacred,' and that of lawyers, farmers, and engineers as 'secular.' It is also wrong. Work, by it's very nature, is holy. The biblical story is dominated by people who have jobs in gardening, shepherding, the military, politics, carpentry, tent making, homemaking, fishing, and more.
Nehemiah is one of these. He started out as a government worker in the employ of a foreign king. Then he became -- and this is the work he tells us of in these memoirs -- a building contractor, called in to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. His coworker Ezra was a scholar and teacher, working with the Scriptures. Nehemiah worked with stones and mortar. The stories of the two men are interwoven in a seamless fabric of vocational holiness. Neither job was more or less important or holy than the other. Nehemiah needed Ezra; Ezra needed Nehemiah. God's people needed the work of both of them. We still do."
Wow.
Live Life Loud!
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| | Posted 1/30/2009 11:57 AM - 16 Views - 4 eProps - 3 comments
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