To The Edge | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: To The Edge | Previous Challenge Entry
By Elaine Hemingway
10/31/19
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The two people standing at the threshold of our home wanted to tell me about their belief. I wanted to proclaim my own. The two faiths were incompatible. Every drop of Truth, every splash of wisdom bounced off the sides of their closed minds into their erroneous brain cells. They had been taught that God had no Son, only Adam; Jesus was created by Jehovah as Archangel Michael and when born was a mere human. The idea of a Triune God was anathema and to consider a heaven and hell was inconsistent with their teachings. 144,000 of their anointed ones would be saved and the wicked would be annihilated. There was no meeting ground. It was like dropping pearls in a bucket of mud.

When leading a Bible study, discussing a new recipe or perhaps brain storming fund raising ideas, a favourite comment is, ‘Let’s drop the idea in the mix and see how far the ripples go.’
A Bible study discussion group is a good example of how different backgrounds, varied thoughts, memories, experiences and personalities can colour comments. A few verses can open an ocean of observations and as the ripples spread some are brought up sharply against a boulder of untruth or a barricade of misunderstanding. The discussion deepens as we see that the wider the receptacle the further the ripples can go with more opportunities to benefit from what they bring.

Let us look at a sentence; one verse in a well-known passage. John1:1a ‘In the beginning was the Word …’ It’s a drop – only a part of a sentence – miniscule in light of the rest of the Book.
‘In’ denotes a receptacle. If you drop a tea bag in a teacup of hot water the leaves will swell and spread, colouring and flavoring the water which becomes palatable and enjoyable.

Then comes ‘the’ being a particular instance of singularity and a descriptive of ‘start’.

‘Beginning’ - before all other things. Before the separation of land and sea and sky; before animals, fish, birds, us! The beginning of creation, no less.

And the next word? ‘Was’. Past tense – it happened. What was it?

‘The Word’ …Not just a word but The Word. Jesus!

From one sentence in one quote from one book in the Bible, a drop that grows into a torrential waterfall that cannot be contained in a bucket. The Word is the author of creation, the author of the universe and the author of the Manual of words we use to help and encourage us in our daily lives.

Can I encourage you to examine the Word, drop by drop, until it overflows and fills your heart and mind and life?

The people of Israel allowed the ripples caused by the Word, given to them as a nation, to be diluted in the wider ocean of humanity. Non-believers, scoffers, pagans who had made other gods out of their own ideas, weakened their acceptance of the Word. Not permanently and not universally but in their own hearts, damned by depravity and self-will.

Looking at The Word, we learn that Jesus was not just born as a baby in Bethlehem. No, He existed before creation, before time began. The ripples that began as a drop in our hearts when we first heard Truth need to keep spreading. I wanted to share some of the Biblical truths from my Bible that has stood the tests of time for more than 2000years. But theirs was a modified version only a couple of centuries old. What a pity that my visitors wanted nothing of Truth but were like buckets with lids on.

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