Boozing it up in the House of the Lord

Jer 35:4  And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door: 5  And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine. 6  But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:

Jer 35:18  And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: 19  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

Here is a fascinating and intriguing account of a group of people who held fast to their convictions in the midst of a very wicked and rebellious nation. Whilst others would go into captivity for their unfaithfulness to God, these would be blest of God for doing right.

The Prophet Jeremiah was used of the Lord to test the resolve of these Rechabites by inviting them into a chamber of the temple and offering them wine, but they politely refused and God blessed.

It makes me wonder about all the things we face, the decisions and the snap judgments we must make. How often are these testings to prove that we are a principled people with godly hearts, worthy of God's richest blessings.

Today, I went, for the FOURTH TIME in as many days, to the customer service desk at a Walmart over 10 miles from my house to try to rectify a situation and transact business. This store is so far away, I call it the Nebraska City Walmart. I must admit, I would rather have bamboo shoots shoved up my fingernails than face that customer service rep once again. Additionally, I thought I would pop back to the sporting goods area to snag a box of ammo, which is like trying to find a jelly donut and a Jenny Craig convention.

I was able to sport a genuine smile and a reasonable greeting to the one who is paid to do the same for me, the customer, but is sure not earning her keep in that respect. I was finally able to leave her company with a heartfelt "God bless you!" and then back to the gun section for my next stage of Wally World abuse.

Again, after being treated like a convict at Reiker's Island, I was able to overcome the boiling pot of rage on the inside, and offer a bit of kindness to the guy we had to hunt down (ironically, from the sporting goods section). I will call this employee, Clerk Can't, but he was no Superman!

Of course, the ammo I needed and have checked on for the past several days was still unavailable. But another man saw that kindness in me that only Jesus can give to an abused Walmart patron. So he asked me to purchase a box of .357s for him since he was only allowed one and he lived so far away. This all ended up in a very friendly conversation with him all the way out to the parking lot.

So alas, no wine was consumed in the chamber of the temple that Sam built and God blessed with a pleasurable experience.

I only hope I can refuse the devil's wine (whine) throughout the day!