Thurs. Devo - Come on Down!

Read 1 Sam 6:1-13
My friend, Anna, says that the economy of the Kingdom of God is this: We give him our junk and He gives us his best. Beauty for ashes, life for death, truth for lies, blessings for curses, healing for emerods. The Philistines cashed in on this. They had the curse, so they made five golden emerods and threw in five golden mice because they were plagued with both. Their fear of God goes back to the stories about Egypt. They sure don't want that God on their back! So they came up with a plan. Make a new cart and put the ark in it and attach 2 milking cows to them. Separate their calves from them and leave the calves at home. Milking cows cannot be separated from their calves. The mother instinct in them is ferocious. But God was going to display His glory over his creation. Instead of the cows turning back to their calfs, they never looked back. They were driven by a supernatural force which defied motherly instincts. The Philistines did this as a test to tell them whether this was the hand of God or not. If the cows went to Bethshemsh (which means house of the sun) it was God's hand. They did.
The cows showed up in the field of Joshua and stopped in front of a great stone. This "rock" has followed them all through the wilderness (1Co 10:4) and continues to show up from time to time. Sometimes as one rock like the one Jacob put his head on and dreamed of the portal to heaven, or many like the ones they pile up for memorials. We know that rock was Jesus. The farmers were reaping the wheat, so that tells us it is the season of Pentecost. Interestingly they are bringing back the presence of the Lord. On a certain Pentecost in Acts God sent down his Holy Spirit to all men and the "church" was born. God with us. Emanuel. In a week it will be Christmas. These farmers rejoiced to see the ark coming. The disciples in Acts rejoiced in receiving the Holy Spirit. The angels rejoiced to see the Son coming. God just loves to come down to us. We have reason to rejoice. He is with us all the time! Thank you Lord for your enormous incredible plan.