Issue 1264 – Rainy Day Ripples – October 3, 2023
Please pray for me today and tomorrow, as I will be speaking to youth groups. Pray for open and receptive hearts and that the Spirit would give me the right message. Thanks.
Today’s image,” Rainy Day Ripples,” was snapped some years ago on a cold, rainy autumn day. I was struck by how the raindrops hitting the marsh made non-stop concentric circles of ripples in the water and intersected one another.
It’s a perfectly ordinary event. It happens every day somewhere, and we have all seen it. It might not be a marsh; it could be a pool, a pond, a slow-moving stream or a puddle with those rain drop induced ripples.
It’s an apt metaphor for life. Everything we say, do or think brings good and bad consequences. They radiate outwards and impact the lives of others. At the same time, the circles of their thoughts and actions interact with us.
No one exists alone. Those ripples may have to travel a long way and get very small, but eventually, they find their way.
As 17th-century clergyman and poet John Donne aptly said in one of his sermons, “No man is an island entire of itself.”
The full quotation is, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
That truth should have a significant impact on the way we live our lives and interact with others. We can drag them down with our ripples or strengthen them. We can be influenced by their ripples. We are interconnected and interdependent in ways that may not even be apparent.
We live in a fallen, broken world that is headed for destruction. We are bombarded by messages that are contrary to the word of God. Those ripples pound away at us constantly; if we are not careful, they can do significant damage. We need to ensure we fill our minds and souls with the good things, the things of God, to counteract them.
The Scriptures counsel us,
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9
While we meditate on those truths, we must also send out ripples of love and compassion.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 1 John 3:11
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7
May the Spirit protect you from ripples that seek to harm you and cause you to radiate waves of blessing.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).
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