Hi Faith Family,
Happy New Year!
Praying you are well and happy today,
Well, here we are at the end of 2008! How was your year? Was it a gemstone? Was it rocky? Well, today make it an "Ebenezer Day." You can make it an Ebenezer day by placing a rock in a noticable place--on your windowsill, desk, or screen where you play wii.
Ebenezer is not just what people named their sons a hundred years ago. It has special meaning. It is a Hebrew term which means "stone of help." It plays in the happenings of Samuel's life, especially chapter seven of I Samuel. God's people camped at a place named "Ebenezer at the beginning of the chapter. But the sweet move by Samuel comes later in the chapter. The Philistines were attacking (for those of you watching the Roady's Humaninarian Bowl game played in Boise, ID yesterday perhaps took note of the Maryland Tarapin defensive player named "Philistin." Way to go all Old Testament on us, H-Bowl!)
Samuel took a stone and set it up. He named it "Ebenezer" ("stone of help") saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."
Whether in heart or with hand you choose to set up a stone today, I encourage you to do so. In a different way than Samuel, we can call to mind as this year closes that "Thus far has the Lord helped us . . . helped me." God has blessed you this year. Take a moment to call to mind the varied and amazing ways God has.
God's loving and guiding hand, his forgiveness, and presence has been rock solid this past year. As you stand on the cusp of 2009, God be with you as you recognize and thank the one who has brought you thus far. God bless you and bless you richly in the New Year.
Ebenezer! Oh, and watch out for those Philistines.
--Pastor Dan