[Monday's Devotional] - The Very Beginning

The Very Beginning   We start at the very beginning, a very good place to start...a song from The Sound of Music.   And we do indeed begin that way. We are born into this world with no knowledge of what we are or where we are, or why we are here. So we yell, and if we don't they smack us so we do what we need to do. Then for the next few years we are totally dependent on our mother, and to a lesser extent our father. And we are born, apparently pure and innocent, and we understand only that we need to be cared for – fed when we are hungry, cleaned when we get dirty, and wrapped up warm so we can sleep comfortably. Wouldn't it be nice and easy if things could stay like that? But they can't because as we grow we learn about the home we live in, the mother who cares for us, the father who plays with us, and what makes us happy or sad.   Then as we grow we learn about the world around us, and particularly how we fit into the world and how it affects us. Within a few short years we are off to school, and needing to learn all sorts of things that up to then we never thought or cared about. Worst of all we are judged on how well we can remember all those things! Most of us will remember how we were punished if we failed to learn well enough – or if we didn't do as we were told. It seemed hard and often unfair, after all we weren't really that naughty were we? We needed to have a bit of fun even if it was 'against the rules' and we try to learn and be good but it's not always easy is it? At least if you got things right you usually got a smile.   Many years ago there were no pens, pencils, or paper to write on. It was a piece of slate and a bit of chalk to write with. If you got something wrong you rubbed it out and started again, and again, and again, until you got it right. When you got it wrong the slate was wiped clean. It's still the same today. It's just that the slate is hypothetical in that we have become it, so to speak, and when we get it wrong it gets wiped clean just the same. Except God wipes it clean for us. He forgives us, we don't even have to say sorry. But we should, and try harder to get things right instead of pleasing ourselves and messing things up.   Wouldn't it be nice to see Him smile for a change?     Jim Finch Twitter Website Copyright © 2016 St. Matthews & St. Oswalds Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthews & St. Oswalds Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!