Meaher State Park, Spanish Fort, Alabama
We woke up to heavy, heavy fog this morning!
This week, we worshiped with the parishioners at Faith Family Fellowship. Not quite as friendly as the last couple of places, but those around us welcomed us warmly. The sanctuary was a bit different in a way that I can’t really describe, but still beautiful. There were lots of kids around for the beginning of the service and then, at the designated time, they all skedaddled outta there! 😊 The most unusual thing they had was their “drummer in a box”. He was completely enclosed in a box under the floor with just a window to look out. From where we sat, only his head was visible.
The choir director taught so much, we thought he might do double duty as the pastor as well. In fact, by the time the worship music was ended, we felt like the message had already been given! Wonderful!
But that was not the case.
Today’s message was about craving the Word of God. The focal scripture was I Peter 1:22-2:3.
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the lowers fail, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the Word that was preached to you. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
As Christians, we should be craving our next “meal” (the Word of God) as if we would die without it – just like infants crave their mother’s milk. We should be “as the deer pants for water, so my soul pants for You” (Psalm 42:1)
The scriptures (Word of God) were given to us so we can know the Living Word (Jesus/God) and in knowing, we can declare Him to others with the spoken word.
We sometimes have to set our hearts on spiritual things/habits that aren’t natural for us, but in time, if practiced diligently, those things will become natural. (Here the Pastor used his example of losing over 60# on the South Beach diet. Previously, he’d only ever liked meat and potatoes, and SB includes a lot of fruits and vegetables. At first he didn’t like it at all, but he was determined and stuck with it. Now he loves them both. Through perseverance, healthy living became natural for him.)
And just as ingesting healthy food is good for our bodies, ingesting God’s Word is healthy for our souls.
By the time church let out, it was fixin’ to rain, so we stayed in all day.
It let up for a bit, just long enough for us to take a walk around the campground. We discovered a storage area for RVs, campers and boats along the side of a road. Some of them have been sitting here for a VERY long time!
TOTAL HIKING MILES: .5
Year To Date: 210
Daily Average: 2.72