Some people have to blame everyone else for their failure. They love success, as long as it’s theirs and hate it when someone else has it.”
–Lou Bradshaw
“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”
–Joshua 1:8 (NLT)
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One of the things I am looking forward to is taking my time and reading through the Bible. I have some thoughts of how I might incorporate some of it here. I have always been interested in reading biographies, so that will definitely be one aspect in my study. In recent years Abraham has become one of my favorite characters. This was a man of tremendous faith, courage, and endurance. I found this little nugget years ago in reading.
“As You called Abram at the beginning of history,
so You call us in modern history to follow You in faith.
…
Your calling in an ongoing challenge to walk by faith and not by sight.
Your call is always to the unknown road, the unnamed destination;
It is a call to live in expectation; to dare to walk the untried road;
to watch You build something completely new in our lives.
You call us to the road less traveled,
the narrow road that leads to life…”
–unknown
Abraham walked where Jesus walked. Not only was it in the same region, but he understood something of the coming Messiah. He lived the life of faith, and he understood personal sacrifice.
“The LORD said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.’ So Abram left, as the LORD had told him.”
–Genesis 12:1,4
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Some of you may remember the television show, “Rawhide.” It was about the trail drive–driving longhorns from Texas up the trail to the market in Kansas. I had a friend I called “Old Hide” and have known some others in my life the fit the name “Rawhide” very well. They were men and women who were able to stand the test of time and the storms of life. In fact, they were toughened by the experience.
In my reading I found this information from Armour Patterson. “No two items could seem more disparate than rawhide and pansies. Rawhide, sometimes called ‘Mexican iron’ in early Texas, functioned as such for a time in both Texas and California when cattle and their hides were about the only things of value in both states. In addition to its use in lariats and saddles, rawhide was also used to make chairs, hats, chaps, bullwhips, playing cards, book covers, horseshoes, shields, bridles, nails, and anything else the fertile frontier imagination devised. Rawhide offers extreme toughness, flexibility, and durability–all attributes that the delicate petals of the pansy can never match.”
Today, we have a new term–“snowflakes.” They are about the opposite of rawhide. They look nice, and they seem to have some intelligence, but when the storm comes, when the battle rages, they tend to melt and complain, and whimper and cry. I see athletes rubbing creams on their bodies to keep them smooth and tender; that definitely does not bring rawhide to mind. I reckon that is something they can talk about with their sweet-thing–which type of lotion smells the best. My, my we’ve come a long way. There once was a day when men were men and women were glad of it. But now women want their men “sweet,” and we’re finding that there’s quite a bit of confusion out there for many males think they are “sweet” as well.
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You know love is a wonderful thing when it follows God’s guidelines. However, when love tries to disguise itself in narcissism, self-indulgence and deceit, it become something sordid and dangerous.