Contemplative Bible Reading

Jeremiah 10:5 Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.”

I love this phrase, “Like a scarecrow in a melon patch”

Who would worship a scarecrow? Isn’t that silly? And isn’t that so much like us?

The next part shows something about the one true God. Notice the phrase, “they must be carried because they cannot walk.”

Try to imagine yourself 3,000 years in the past. Most peoples of the world worshiped different kinds of local gods. The gods were in special places. If the people migrated with the weather, they carried their gods with them.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob didn’t need to be transported. The true God was everywhere that the people went. He was in Jerusalem, in Samaria, in Egypt, in Ur of the Chaldes. He was and still is omnipresent – everywhere at the same time.
Well, do we do this today? Do we have special places where magic exists?

• Disneyworld
• Las Vegas
• Niagara Falls (that goes back a couple of generations)
• The Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day (another old one)
• The campus of (fill in the blank) University

Maybe we don’t worship these places, but at one time or another they are special to people.

Consider, “I can think better when I am in the library.”

Consider, “I sleep better in the country than in the city.”

These are nice things, and I have my favorite places. I love to write in my journal while in Greenberry’s Coffee in Reston, Va. I love to read and write e-mails while in Moonbeans Coffee in San Jose, Ca.

Now consider, “I am more at peace with myself when I am in the chapel,” or “there is nothing like being in the old church building on a Sunday morning.”

Do we limit our peace, contentment, love, prayer, or closeness to God to a certain place and time?

Something to contemplate.