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OATMEAL DAYS
For I have chosen him,
so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep
the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just . . ..
Genesis 18:19, God
speaking about Abraham
Oatmeal days. Not days
like graduation days, wedding days or birthing days. Ordinary days. Days
when nothing special is going on. Such plain days are for vacuuming,
making Jell-O, matching socks and paying bills. These are the days
commonly on my mind.
In connection with common days, I’ve especially been thinking about the
patriarch Abraham. On such plain days, Abraham was probably making sure
his huge tribe had food, clothing and shelter. Besides superintending
his family, the Genesis text mentions 318 trained men born in his
household who helped protect his nomadic compound. He fed an army!
Abraham had plenty of common days filled with everyday chores:
overseeing his possessions and herdsmen, eating, sleeping, enjoying his
family, traveling, taking naps on rainy days, training his army,
inspecting fabric for new tents, trading choice flock for food and
delicacies.
Abraham’s ordinary days must have far outnumbered his glory days.
He lived 63,875 days to the age of 175. In his biblical biography, there
are approximately 27 milestone events recorded. If each distinct event
took one year to unfold, Abraham might have used up 27 years of his life
span for special days. I suspect those leftover 148 years brought a lot
of ordinary days.
Oatmeal days is a coined phrase one woman attaches to
no-frill-or-thrill days. God assigns oatmeal days to each family unit,
and the plentiful, plain days offer many times to direct family to
follow the ways of the Lord.
Sometimes guilt attacks like a hornet when I’m involved in mundane
chores like scrubbing floors or sweeping down cobwebs from my back
porch. When that happens, I’ve deemed those tasks not as valuable in the
sight of God as spooning soup into an invalid's mouth, but every act of
service is important to living out God's purpose.
Whether my days are “oatmeal ordinary” or “Richter-scale grand,” each
day is an opportunity for obeying God’s assignment. On ho-hum days when
my family tract is kept tidy and functional, it is being readied so
those in my care can "keep the way of the Lord, by doing what is just
and right" (Genesis 18:19).
Lord of all my days, even my dusting and mopping, lead me to 100 per
cent devotion. In the name of Jesus who told a kingdom story about a
woman sweeping a house.
Amen.
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