Tuesday, May 14, 2013

JUST EIGHT OLIVES FOR SUPPER

Just eight olives...not much of a meal...not even what you could call a snack!
But that is all that would be left to the people of God who drifted away from 
honoring Him as their God.  (Isaiah ch. 17)

For hardworking people who planted whole groves of olives in expectation of a 
bumper harvest, this would have been devastating to find next to nothing. 
At harvest time, their yield would be like shaking the olive tree & realizing 
2 or 3 olives from the uppermost branches, and 4 or 5 in the most fruitful branches.

This yield usually represented what was called the gleanings - (three times in 
Scripture, God's people are commanded to leave the corners of their fields 
unharvested so that the poor, the fatherless, the widow & the stranger could 
glean some food. Each time, the command is followed by these words: 
'I am the Lord.' In other words: just do it, people!)

What was the reason for the sorry state of affairs described in the first paragraph 
above?  Verse 17 explains it:  
'In that day, a man will look to his Maker and his eyes will have respect for the 
Holy One of Israel.'

Sometimes EVERYTHING in life goes wrong, wrong, wrong, and we wonder 
why, why, why!  It feels like the 8 olive harvest when you expected a full yield.  
Time to get back to the basics like seeking the face of the Lord, seeking 
the favour He promises to those who walk in His ways, acknowledging Him 
in all our ways.  

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