15 Minute Friday

My blogger friend, Kim, over at One Day At A Time, hosts 15 Minute Friday. It's a spiritual related discussion. Come join us won't you... link up with her and share the wisdom and insights you have gained this past week.

This week she has a variety of topics. One is in response to the following passage:

John 2:3-5 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine". "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

Do you suppose that Mary knew things that most did not? I suppose she did. It may be interesting to note that wine at weddings was an important social icon in those days. Running dry at the wedding would not be a good thing - socially speaking. Perhaps Mary was looking out for the social well-being of this couple? Here we find her urging Christ to act, but was this act what she was expecting? Did she expect a miracle? Maybe she didn't expect the miracle to be a public event? One doesn't know. One has to wonder why Mary felt the need to prompt him. Do you suppose he would have performed this miracle even if she had not approached him?

His disciples accompany him to this wedding. Perhaps the timing was premature given the fact that their knowledge of Christ was so new and fresh. WOW - what an icebreaker event for them. I wonder who's wedding it was? Weddings today we call upon the Lord's presence and blessing, but at this wedding he was there in the flesh. How awesome is that!!! Marriage in general is such a significant theme throughout the Bible. I am not surprised that he provided his miraculous talent at such an event.

I could spend hours pondering this passage... praying... studying... reading different versions, commentaries, etc.

On to the next topic... The Lords Prayer. We pray the Lord's Prayer every week in church. It's part of every service. I am a little bothered by the fact that it can become simply words spoken as opposed to heartfelt prayer. I practice this prayer often and expand upon each phrase, but when we pray it in church, there is no expansion except within my heart. Taking a step back, this prayer can provide an overall model for our prayers. All of our prayers sure praise, honor, and glorify God. We should express our thankfulness, confess our sin, and humbly express the concerns of our heart.

When we lived in KY, we were blessed by a weekly prayer meeting. We gathered with a multicultural group at the chapel to pour our hearts out to the Lord. We prayed the Lord's prayer and expanded upon each verse... each in his own language. As we were praying about the Lord's will being done on Earth as it is in Heaven, there was one person who was begging the Lord for his second coming. I was thinking "Whoa Dude - Who's ready for that?!" This was a huge eye opener. Are you ready?! While I have no fear of death, it's our human nature to love life on Earth, but what awaits us is so much more. This prayer session was profound. Kim asks us today "Should you think about Heaven more?" Good question. Actually, thinking of Heaven can have a calming effect... for me anyway. I know people there and I get to meet Jesus face to face. And in the words of my niece "There will be a feast... ham... turkey... soup."

I could type for hours on the topic of Heaven. Some people find solace in the idea of their loved ones looking down on them and smiling. Heck, one day I told my friend Rene'e that Ed was up there driving a gold tractor, to which she replied "J.J. even in Heaven Ed's tractor is red." (He was a huge Case/Internation/Farmall fan) Too cute. I'm not sure I buy the "looking down from heaven" idea. I figure they are busy exploring and singing praises to God. Earth is a pretty complex environment with some really neat attractions. Heaven is going to knock our socks off! As a matter of fact I remember my Disciple I teacher telling us that when we get to Heaven we will pretty much spend all of our time praising God. I thought that sounded somewhat boring at the time. I'd really like to think that I can have some "me time" up there. The truth is... once you have a relationship with the Lord, you WANT to do that. Even today it makes me feel so good inside to praise the Lord... I can't wait to feel that good all the time. I can see how much I've grown since I took that class.

That's all for now... this was not 15 minutes of thoughts... oops I went a little over my limit. Sorry.