WOW

Wow. I can't believe how long it's been since my last post. It's partly my fault. Actually it's totally my fault. First, I got grounded. So in the middle of writing a post, my mom comes in and grounds me. I've forgotten why now. It happened so far back that it's almost ancient history. Here's the hypothetical paragraph from the history book:
Mystery in History #094-
No one quite knows what led to the grounding of Robert Harris. Shortly after the incident Robert forgot the cause of his cruel punishment. We do have some clues. First, there is a noticeable absence of blog posts during the period of punishment. Also, there was a considerable lack of video game playing. Finally, he spent less time on his email than usual. From these observations, we can guess that since his punishment banned him temporarily from using the computer, the cause of his horrible torture was related to computers. The most probable cause is the overuse of the computer, although it may be that he was on the computer during school hours. In the end, the grounding of Robert Harris is a mystery that may never be solved.

How was that? Do you think I could make it as a historian? No, I don't think so either.

So what's happened to me lately? Well, not much. Sure, I've had lots of homework, but it really wasn't that much more than the usual. I watched the Olympics (some of them anyway). I especially like watching the skiing. Now that I've skied, I realize how hard it is. I also enjoyed watching the snowboarding. Unfortunately, my sister seems to have made some sort of deal with my mom, so she always picks what we watch. Usually it's ice dancing and stuff like that. So boring!

Hmmm. I think it's time for me to say something Christian-like. I'm a little overdue.
Today, I'll choose a topic that I just read in my devotion this morning. You must know that I've started a new way of doing devotions. First, I get a piece of paper with words. Any words. Then, I close my eyes and move my finger back and forth over the paper and at some point stop. Whatever letter my finger stops on, I choose a book in the Bible that starts with that same letter. I then just start at the beginning. Every time I choose a book I've done before, I just read the next chapter or two. I figure I'll get the most variety of topics that way.
Today, I stopped on "A", so I could either do Amos or Acts. I chose Amos because hardly anyone reads it. I did the first two chapters.
In this part, he talks about the Lord's punishment of Israel's neighbors because of their actions. For example, because Tyre "sold whole communities of captives to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood (Amos 1:9b)." God decided to "send fire upon the walls of Tyre that will consume her fortresses (Amos 1:10)." This is what the prophet (guess who) Amos declared to Israel. Of course, they probably loved this. It's like saying that the Patriots will go bankrupt and the team won't exist anymore. Or that all the scotch tape factories will burn and only duct tape factories will remain.
Then Amos hits them with a big one. He declares the punishment of Israel itself for it's sins. He lists more sins of Israel than any other nation. They neglected and oppressed the poor and were sexually immoral. In doing so, they violated God's laws. As a result, Amos said that God will "crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain (Amos 2:13)."

I see two lessons to be gained here.
1: God holds us to a higher standard than others. While the crimes He lists for the foreigners are crimes against humanity, the crimes He lists for the Israelites are crimes that go against God's commands. As Christians, we are held accountable not only to human laws, but to God's laws. Just because the world thinks our actions are acceptable, God doesn't. There are consequences for disobeying, even if you are God's chosen people.
2: God commands us to care for others. The majority of the crimes listed for Israel have to do with oppressing the poor. In Matthew 22:39, Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love you neighbor as yourself. In John 15:12, he says "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." The way we treat others should reflect how Jesus loved us. He loved us enough to die on the cross for us. Ignoring the needs of the poor doesn't show that love, does it?

That's all right now (oh dear, another long post). Hope you learned something you could apply. Maybe to take care of those less fortunate, maybe to not be on the computer when you shouldn't be, or maybe to love each other like Jesus loved us.
Whatever you do, stay away from carts loaded with grain. They might crush you.