Last Saturday my husband drove me back to the town where I grew up. We traveled
down tree lined lanes and looked at beautiful historic homes. I can see why as a child
I thought I lived in paradise on Earth. Huge Live Oak trees speckled with lazy Spanish Moss gracefully sat sleeping on lawns freshly cut by its human servants. The chocolate milk Bayou Teche rolling along as it has for centuries just as when early settlers and Native Americans used it for travel. We saw lilac colored Water Hyacinths in bloom with lilly pads big enough for the largest bullfrog to rest on. These are my childhood memories. I attended many festivals on the Bayou's murky banks. Fourth of July fireworks exploded in my mind as I looked at the tree line near the waters edge. Nothing can bring you back to childhood like a trip home. Catfish cooking over outdoor fires and grilled hot dogs along with the sound of music playing from hometown bands is like no other memory. The sights, smells and sounds that came from Savoie Domicile's Store on the corner near Willow Street rang back through my mind. I would play with his grandson while mom or dad enjoyed a visit with my cousins or "Mr. Savoie" as we all affectionately called him. It seems like yesterday that Clarence Granger would get on his delivery bike and bring groceries over to my
Mama. The smells of Italian Sausage can not be beat. I hope "Mr. Savoie" gave that recipe to someone and did not bring it to the grave with him. He made the absolute best sausage in the world and I loved having it for dinner. What a protected life I lived in that beautiful city on the banks of the Bayou. How great it would be to keep all those memories in one place and be able to take them out one by one and reminisce about days gone by. Today is the end of one season and tomorrow the beginning of another. I am so thankful for the seasons around us and the seasons of life. I cannot go back and relive the Spring but I can remember in Fall that
new memories will replace the old ones that are falling down around us and new life will replace the old because the Bible promises us seasons and in Genesis it states :
Gen 1:14 And God said,Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Ecc 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
He gave us seasons for a reason. They are a gift to us. I am very thankful today for all the good and perfect gifts Jesus has given me.
Even when we fail Jesus is merciful and we may in fact reap what we sow just as Adam did when he fell into disobedience in the garden and reaped a hard life for mankind.
Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
There was in due season a redemption from this curse when Noah was born : Gen 5:29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands,because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
The Name Noah means Rest or Comfort.
When someone lives a disobedient life and is reaping the benefits of that life the Bible says the way of the transgressor is hard such as the life Adam lived and all of mankind after he sinned the sin of disobedience. The Prophet Isaiah spoke to Israel concerning the promise of rest to come but the Bible says they would not hear. It is recorded by Historians that the Prophet Isaiah was cut in half by a saw. Some say he was placed inside a tree and cut in half and then burned. The Bible does not say how he died but we no longer see him prophesying after the reign of Manasseh who was a very evil ruler. How sad when people don't want to hear what their very own Creator has to say. Read the beautiful words of Isaiah
Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
The Prophet Jeremiah was ordered by the Lord to rewrite the scrolls after King
burned them in Jeremiah 36 verse 27. The Lord then added to His words even more
judgement. How sad when men do not want to hear the words of the Lord.
If you today are reading this then you can repent and obey the words of Jesus and still receive comfort and have the curses on your life removed and blessing to replace them:
The Holy Ghost is called the Comforter but in order for you to receive it and continue
to have it dwell inside of you you must become obedient to the Word of the Lord:
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Jesus said these things concerning who and what the Holy Ghost is and what it takes to receive the lifting of the curse of sin from your life. We don't have to continue to live
a life of disobedience and curse but can enter into that rest and refreshing in this
life. We don't have to wait until the waters recede from the earth. We can have it
now.
We can rest from our earthly labors and hopeless lives and drink from heavenly water which will restore our souls. Adam did not have the drink to restore his soul and neither did Noah but Jesus does as He said in Matthew:
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
No, the chocolate colored milky water from that old Bayou cannot give me life but only serves as a reminder of what life was like when I was a child. The water that Jesus gave me on the day that He fulfilled the promise of the Comforter in my life is what is going to last.
Memories are only captured thoughts of bygone days that are either written down or recalled in books or articles like this one. My concern is not living in the past but living for all
eternity. I am so glad that life gives us seasons just as the earth rotates through them. If it were always winter in my life then I would be concerned because coldness and bitterness can destroy things. Things cannot be planted in the ice and snow. If it were always spring and I never grew to maturity in the areas that are meant to grow and bear fruit then others would not be able to share in the ministry that Jesus has placed in my hands.
1Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
I cannot return to childhood but have to keep maturing to be all I can be for Jesus.
I am very thankful for all of life's seasons as well as those around us. All are a blessing.
In Jesus,
Dana Klein
