Stooping

Nehemiah 3:5 And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord. (All references ESV, which allows such use, if properly acknowledged.)

Mark 1:7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

We went to see my neurosurgeon yesterday morning, and he has cleared me to resume normal activity. I was not so cleared, since my surgery on March 16. I have not been supposed to lift anything weighing over five pounds, or climb stairways of more than a few steps, or bend over to pick up things -- not supposed to stoop, in other words.

My wife has had to do a lot of things for me, or for us, that I have done for a long time, such as take out the garbage, carry in shopping bags, empty the clothes hamper and the bottom rack of the dishwasher, and a lot more, and I appreciate it a lot. She has been doing a lot of stooping (and carrying). I'll be glad to be able to bend down, and lift, for me, for her, and for us.

In the verses above, stooping has to do with humility, putting yourself in a place of service. The rich folk thought that helping out physically with the building was beneath them. They were wrong, and were the worse for it. John thought that he wasn't good enough to even stoop down to tie Christ's sandals. He was right. We aren't worthy, either, but we should serve, even though we aren't.

Thank God for the good report, and thanks to my wife for all the stooping she has done. I'll take over now, for a while, at least.

Thanks for reading. I expect to be posting less than usual for a few days.