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"The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to" (Deuteronomy 28:8).
There's something that intrigues me about barns. They vary in size, design, color and even their intended usage. There are cattle barns, feed barns, equipment barns and many other kinds of barns. As a little boy I would play in my Uncle Gentry's barn on his farm outside of Harwood Missouri. When the cousins would come together during family gatherings we'd play vigorously for hours in the hay loft.
Many
of the barns in that area are now dilapidated much like the one barn
that we'd pass as we made the trip to my grandparents' house. It seemed
that with each passing year the timbers were more rotted and the entire
barn was leaning more and more toward the earth, similar to the silo in
the photo. On each trip I'd eagerly watch for the spot to see if
the weathered barn had finally collapsed but it never did. I
wonder to this day if it's still standing!
Brooksyne grew up on a farm where they had a couple of smaller barns. She doesn't have such fond memories since their farm chores included cleaning up the cow and horse stalls. Fortunately that job fell more often to her brother as he got older rather than the girls. Though she does remember a few times doing the nasty chore for her brother, Jody, in exchange for his promise not to tattle on her if there was something she didn't want her parents to know. I wonder if siblings still use blackmail to get out of doing their chores.
After
we got married we lived for many years in areas where we rarely saw
barns but since we moved to Lancaster County nine years ago we see the
landscape dotted with barns and silos. We often use these photos
on this site from our travels.
Today's verse is a wonderful promise from Scripture, "The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to." Barns, also called storehouses, could be a source of pride to farmers if they were not careful to acknowledge their abundance was from God.
"The Lord will send..." It's so vital to recognize where the blessings come from. We regularly sing the doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." God continues to send forth his physical and spiritual blessings. Sadly, many rely on other sources to provide for their needs and even have entitlement attitudes. God owes us nothing and yet provides for all that we have need of.
"A blessing on your barns" indicates the agricultural way of life so common in the Bible period. In principle it surely also means your work or business, whatever that may be, that relates to the way we make a living today.
Note carefully that this Scripture expresses a cooperative relationship. God is faithful to bless. But notice the phrase, "on everything you put your hand to." Farmers don't lay around just waiting for God's blessing. They work hard using the skills God has taught them over the years, often through the trials and errors of farming. Although most of us don't work on farms the principle is surely the same.
Many
tend to see work as a mere necessity to be avoided as much as
possible. But God has called us all to "use our hands."
Consider these verses. "He who has
been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something
useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with
those in need" (Ephesians 4:28). "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet
life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we
told you" (I Thessalonians 4:11). "We work hard with our own hands" (1
Corinthians 4:12).
Let us claim this promise and let us faithfully do our part in obedience to God's commands!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, we are confident that You will provide for all our needs as we obey Your commands. You have instituted work from the very beginning so that we can provide for ourselves that which we have need of. Your blessings fall upon those who obey You and who are not idle or wasteful. We thank You for our jobs and the skills needed to perform our duties. We lift up our brothers and sisters who are diligently looking for employment but are awaiting doors to open. Father, we pray that You would open the right door and provide for their needs in supernatural and unconventional ways as You always care for Your own, no matter the circumstances. May it be a time of trusting and growing as they look to You for their provisions and for the open door. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
You will recall the farmer in Luke 12:13-21 who wanted to replace his smaller barns with bigger ones when he saw that he had a great crop. I wonder how the parable would have ended if the farmer had given proper thanks and recognition to God for His blessings. What if he had prayed, "God, reveal to me a family(ies) whose crop did not have a good yield so that I can share from my abundance." Surely, by storing up all the harvest for just his family the food would have been rancid by the end of the season.
Last fall I traveled throughout northwest Missouri,
southwest Iowa and southeast Nebraska. I passed old abandoned, often
dilapidated barns such as the scene above. Although the area is still
farmed, methods have
changed and many of the old barns are apparently no longer needed.
"Great Is Thy Faithfulness" Video Selah
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tom and Marsha Neizmik are long-time friends who live on a farm in the Allegheny mountains in northern Pennsylvania.
They enjoy this beautiful view from their kitchen window.
Tom and Marsha Neizmik are long-time friends who live on a farm in the Allegheny mountains in northern Pennsylvania.
They enjoy this beautiful view from their kitchen window.
"Lessons From Barns"
"The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to" (Deuteronomy 28:8).
There's something that intrigues me about barns. They vary in size, design, color and even their intended usage. There are cattle barns, feed barns, equipment barns and many other kinds of barns. As a little boy I would play in my Uncle Gentry's barn on his farm outside of Harwood Missouri. When the cousins would come together during family gatherings we'd play vigorously for hours in the hay loft.
Many
of the barns in that area are now dilapidated much like the one barn
that we'd pass as we made the trip to my grandparents' house. It seemed
that with each passing year the timbers were more rotted and the entire
barn was leaning more and more toward the earth, similar to the silo in
the photo. On each trip I'd eagerly watch for the spot to see if
the weathered barn had finally collapsed but it never did. I
wonder to this day if it's still standing!Brooksyne grew up on a farm where they had a couple of smaller barns. She doesn't have such fond memories since their farm chores included cleaning up the cow and horse stalls. Fortunately that job fell more often to her brother as he got older rather than the girls. Though she does remember a few times doing the nasty chore for her brother, Jody, in exchange for his promise not to tattle on her if there was something she didn't want her parents to know. I wonder if siblings still use blackmail to get out of doing their chores.
Today's verse is a wonderful promise from Scripture, "The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to." Barns, also called storehouses, could be a source of pride to farmers if they were not careful to acknowledge their abundance was from God.
"The Lord will send..." It's so vital to recognize where the blessings come from. We regularly sing the doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." God continues to send forth his physical and spiritual blessings. Sadly, many rely on other sources to provide for their needs and even have entitlement attitudes. God owes us nothing and yet provides for all that we have need of.
"A blessing on your barns" indicates the agricultural way of life so common in the Bible period. In principle it surely also means your work or business, whatever that may be, that relates to the way we make a living today.
Note carefully that this Scripture expresses a cooperative relationship. God is faithful to bless. But notice the phrase, "on everything you put your hand to." Farmers don't lay around just waiting for God's blessing. They work hard using the skills God has taught them over the years, often through the trials and errors of farming. Although most of us don't work on farms the principle is surely the same.
Let us claim this promise and let us faithfully do our part in obedience to God's commands!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, we are confident that You will provide for all our needs as we obey Your commands. You have instituted work from the very beginning so that we can provide for ourselves that which we have need of. Your blessings fall upon those who obey You and who are not idle or wasteful. We thank You for our jobs and the skills needed to perform our duties. We lift up our brothers and sisters who are diligently looking for employment but are awaiting doors to open. Father, we pray that You would open the right door and provide for their needs in supernatural and unconventional ways as You always care for Your own, no matter the circumstances. May it be a time of trusting and growing as they look to You for their provisions and for the open door. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
You will recall the farmer in Luke 12:13-21 who wanted to replace his smaller barns with bigger ones when he saw that he had a great crop. I wonder how the parable would have ended if the farmer had given proper thanks and recognition to God for His blessings. What if he had prayed, "God, reveal to me a family(ies) whose crop did not have a good yield so that I can share from my abundance." Surely, by storing up all the harvest for just his family the food would have been rancid by the end of the season.
Another view of the Neizmik barn
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"Great Is Thy Faithfulness" Video Selah
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