Grumbling about food is about as bad as idolatry

1 Corinthians 10:1 Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and all ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 5 However with most of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 Don’t be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Let’s not commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. 9 Let’s not test Christ, as some of them tested, and perished by the serpents.

The above is a list of three sinful attitudes exhibited by the Israelites while they were traveling from Egypt to the Promised Land. So what's the next item on that list? Murder, theft, slander? No. Here it is:

10 Don’t grumble ...

That's right. Don't grumble. Why so important? Perhaps because, if I grumble, I'm not acknowledging God's goodness toward me.

What were the Israelites grumbling about? 

Exodus 16 tells us about the first episode of grumbling by the Israelites. They complained about the food -- they didn't see where they were going to get any, and when they did get it, it wasn't like the food they had in Egypt.

How many times have I complained about the amount and variety of the food I have to eat, or about how it was prepared, or about how much work I had to obtain it, or how much there was of it?

I recommend a previous post in this blog, which tells us that the Biblical attitude is forgiveness of anyone who has harmed us.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 979

 

Gizmodo reports that a 3-D printer has been used to repair abnormal penis tissue. -- in rabbits and pigs, not in people,

NPR reports on why we like dessert, even if we are already full.

LiveScience reports on the discovery of a lot of moons orbiting Saturn.

NPR on how Alabama did better in math teaching than any other state.

Gizmodo reports on a study of back pain remedies. Almost none of them work.

NPR reports that microphone quality is a strong influence in on-line job interviews.

MIT has studied how people walk in crosswalks.

Women of the Bible: Mrs. Zacchaeus

Previous posts have tried to remind readers of various women, some in the Bible, but not named,  and some named, but mentioned only in part of a verse. Some, of course, have a lot of scripture telling about them. But we don't even know if there was a Mrs. Zacchaeus. So why write about her? Here is what we do know:

Luke 19:1 He entered and was passing through Jericho. 2 There was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, and couldn’t because of the crowd, because he was short. 4 He ran on ahead, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 He hurried, came down, and received him joyfully. 7 When they saw it, they all murmured, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.”

8 Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”

So Jesus, and Zacchaeus, almost certainly the twelve apostles (see Luke 18), perhaps others of the followers and supporters of Jesus, and perhaps friends and acquaintances of Zacchaeus, all came to eat, when Mrs. Zacchaeus, or some hard-worked servant(s), were expecting only Zacchaeus. Jesus may have been telling Zacchaeus to run home and warn Mrs. Zacchaeus, when He said to hurry and come down, but we can't be sure of that, and, even if that were true, it was an unexpected crowd, and surely the whole affair was going to be an unexpected event for an unprepared household. It is also possible that the family was going to give back some possessions that had been unjustly taken from their original owners, or bought with ill-gotten gains, but that the family of Zacchaeus liked to have around.

Have you ever been surprised by unexpected, perhaps even uninvited, guests? Mrs. Zacchaeus was. How did she react? We don't know. Perhaps she gave Zacchaeus a stern lecture later, or at least was planning to do so, until Zacchaeus showed a remarkable change of heart. If she hadn't served the meal, perhaps the story of Zacchaeus would have been lost to us. But it isn't. Zacchaeus, himself, has been the subject matter for many a sermon, Bible lesson, or song. And by implication, Mrs. Zacchaeus has been, too.

I need to take advantage of unexpected opportunities. Perhaps you do! 

Sunspots 607

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Relevant reports that a Christian is martyred for his/her faith about every six minutes.


Food: Listverse reports on 10 strange ways to make, and/or serve, ice cream.

Health: National Public Radio reports on a study that found that being the mother of a middle-schooler is more stressful than being the mother of a newborn or a teenager.

NPR also has a report on the state of knowledge of Alzheimer's.

NPR on how poor eating habits can impair your ability to think.

History: Listverse posts on 10 beautiful ancient maps.

Politics: Relevant reports that nearly 30,000 people have been the victims of violence in Venezuela this year.

Science: A simple, almost free solution to defrosting a car window quickly.

Listverse reports on 10 amazing inventions, inspired by structures and processes in living things.
Sports:


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 466

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Health: From the Guardian, an article about how homeopathy, and various other non-traditional medications, may not work, but they give patients the feeling that someone is paying attention, and cares, which they may not get from the regular medical community.
 
Science: From Science, a report on how an amoeba, or ameba, can live inside you and eat your cells.

From US News and other outlets, a report on how women who "lacked or had an underdeveloped vagina and uterus" were treated with a lab-grown replacement, cultured from their own tissue, and the resulting replacement vaginas worked normally. Amazing.

Yes, your eyes (and brain) do influence how much you eat, and National Public Radio reports on some experimental evidence for that.

Wired sets forth the case for the earth revolving around the sun, rather than the reverse. (Lest you think than no one acts like the earth is the center of the universe, how long has it been since you said that the sun "rises?" (or "sets?") That's language suggesting that the sun travels around the earth.

Sports: Sports Illustrated notes that Breanna Stewart, perhaps the best player in women's college basketball, signed her letter of intent to play at Connecticut (who just finished an undefeated season, including the national title) on the hood of her car in a parking lot. She's not one for fanfare, for sure.


Image source (public domain)