This past week we had our chickens slaughtered. Not a happy day for the chickens, but a great day for us! Our freezers were full to overflowing as we had already filled them with quite a bit of grape juice and grapes. A "grape" problem to have, (couldn't resist the bad pun....)
"Chicken Day" is always quite an event. We get up early while it is still dark in hopes that we can catch the chickens off-guard while they are still sleeping in the coop. Then, as we creep into the coop, one by one a chicken is caught and quickly put into the waiting crate. It's genius, really. Otherwise, we'd literally be like a chicken with its head cut off, running around the whole yard! The morning we caught all the birds required 5 of us, chasing at 100 birds. You'll never believe what I read that morning back in my new favourite book, Leviticus.......
Speaking to the Israelites about blessings they'll receive for being obedient,
"I will give peace in the land.... Five of you shall chase a hundred....." Lev. 26:6,7
Isn't that incredible?! I couldn't believe it. Of all the mornings to read that verse, why then? I've read through Leviticus before and never seen it. But, that morning, 5 of us were outside, chasing 100 (well, actually 107!) The verse seemed to jump off the page. Now I realize, of course, that God isn't speaking about chickens. In fact, He is speaking about their enemies. Yet, I still took it as no coincidence and as a strange encouragement. God is really seeming to say, "If you follow my commands, I will make your enemies fall at your feet." I don't see chickens as my enemies, hardly! But, in a way, having them in our freezer is a symbol of God's blessing... they fell at our feet as we chased them and now we have food for a year.
Though we are not perfect, as I've said before and will continue to admit freely, we are trying to stay on His path, trying to walk in His statues, observing His commandments. God promised the Israelites many blessings is they did so, too. The Bible certainly has come to life for me out here. I never would have made the connections I've been making by staying in the city. Living on a farm has really made the Bible's principles so clear as many of the examples used are from an agricultural perspective. Leviticus 26 speaks to just about everything we've been going through this year on the farm.
The next half of the verse speaks about "a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand.....". Hmmm... we aren't planning on having a 10, 000 chickens in the near future, but again, the principal I see in Leviticus, is how God simply multiplies blessing when He sees obedience. Do it God's way and He'll bless you for it. So, once again, I am encouraged from one of the most unique books in the Bible that I have never enjoyed so much. Little did we know that chasing chickens could be such a spiritual experience!
No comments:
Post a Comment