James's Weblog

Last week I was doing a bit of work in the garden, cutting back the ever-encroaching bramble and gorse bushes.

I found myself wondering why there are so many of the things in the garden. It’s a bit of a pain.

Not that it required much thought. Genesis 3:18 solves that one for me – they serve as a reminder of the fact that life in rebellion of God’s law is never a fulfilled / happy / pain-free one. God judges those who rebel against him.

A few of us spent a good hour, a few weeks back, reading and reflecting on Psalm 42-43.

We did talk about when Jesus might have prayed such a Psalm, and thought that Gethsemane was the kind of moment.

What we didn’t pick up

The first half of the book of Leviticus describes many different kinds of sacrifices and offerings that the people were to make in Old Testament times. It describes circumstances under which they were to be offered. Who was to offer them. Exactly how it had to be done. And so on.

Here are a few quotations.

Imagine, if you will, that I start to run a coffee shop. Not one that sells cups of brewed coffee. One that sells packs of freshly roasted coffee beans, to be ground at home and turned into a cup of the very best.

Here’s the price label on a 250g bag of single-origin, know-the-farmer-personally, roasted-yesterday Guatemala.

“Price: £5.
For those who cannot afford £5, the price is £2.
Those who cannot afford £2 may pay £0.50.”

What a funny kind of shop I would be running.