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Have doubts about the effectiveness of this predetermined grace? Then I’ll give you a real life example of how mysteriously God can work. A man named Joseph had an ethical problem keeping him up at night. Joseph lived in Israel, a nation whose population was ruled by the Law of Moses. Thus as such he inherited all the exacting purity rules written as a set of laws passed down from ancient prophets and priests. The exact rules were like torque specs we’d find for a spindle nut. Because of those laws, designed for the purpose of ruling society, he knew that his decision about an upcoming marriage affected not only himself, but many others as well. You see, Joseph had thought his cup was full. He was trying to do everything right... according to the Law. He planned to marry. He thought he’d found a good woman, but that had worked loose. He painfully considered divorcing this promised wife. You see, during the period that we often call an engagement… it was a bit different. At that time in Israel, an engaged woman was considered to be legally committed to the marriage… so much so… that the marriage contract was already binding. However, Mary as his wife to be, was already expecting a child, one not fathered by Joseph. Thus he had the right to put her away. He could break the marriage contract, much like undoing a spindle nut. He could do this either publically and shame her or quietly pack her in the dirty grease of Hebrew society. That was Joseph’s dilemma. Should he divorce publically or quietly? He wrestled with the problem as he tried to sleep. Was it to be the Law or should he gracefully and quietly just |
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put her away? No different than any other human being, he tossed and turned. He was like many of us… a sinful, yet religious man. Should he even judge her? I find that many of us in today’s world can identify with his fitfulness. We who are sinfully human often lay awake thinking and praying… trying to find answers to difficult problems. |
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Cotter Key King? |
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We do this so much so that it seems a small thimble of wine in Church does not seem to help. Surely, too much of the spirits like those in a wine bottle often become addictive... a potion that drowns us. We may wonder when at the altar, “Will that little sip do anything to save us.” |
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A locking cotter pin can securely keep an axle nut’s cover in place! |