Well thank you all for your prayers, we had a great VBS attendance, and the children were attentive. Please continue to pray for a harvest of souls during this endeavor.
Hey, Can you guess; What job the corn on the cob was given? Yep, you are right The Cash-ear.
Tuesday 7/25
Eccl. 2:8 "I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds."
This verse.places a focus on several things:
First on "the special treasure" this speaks of valuable, priceless in nature belongings, which are collectible. Ex. 19:5 made this promise to the Jewish nation. "Now if you will obey and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me."
The second emphasis is "I gathered ... singers, the delights of the sons of men". Music has the special power to bring charm to all of creation but especially to mankind. It lifts our hearts & minds to supernatural heights. It also soothes our inner being, as well as, lifts our hearts to elation that can only be entered into through varied musical heights.
Both of these special gains can be enjoyed by mankind.
When I was a young boy, we raised chickens for laying purposes, we fed them, a special feed to cause them to grow very rapidly. Each evening we would control the light to mimic the twilight of early evening, and play soothing music to calm the chickens.
This exterior practice caused the chickens to sleep a restful sleep which caused them to grow up in size & maturity moire quickly. Then when they were mature enough to begin laying eggs we would sell them to local egg farms, which would place them in separate cages to feed them in such a way that they laid consistently larger eggs, for selling at greater value.
Music had much to do with calming the chickens, and preparing them for healthful sleeping and then this caused exceptional growth. My uncle spent a great amount of time studying these elements. Feed, temperature, air moisture, lighting, but he found the most influential part of this environment was music.
If they weren't cared for in this way, due to the number of chicks they were prone to stampeding and would more prone to smothering each other. However, when music & lighting were carefully controlled they wouldn't suffer from these instances, but rather rest with greater health & even live longer providing more years of egg bearing.
Stories in the Bible refer to the benefit of music's influence on various men Saul, David, Isaac, and Isaiah.,etc. and a number of men in the Bible. Not alone there were several instances of David playing his harp to calm the herd of sheep his was assigned to care for.
Becky & I personally found that the mixture of music & calming conversation were beneficial to our children experiencing restful sleep. We purchased several hundred various tapes that were Bible stories with calming background music. They taught character lessons, Bible truths, etc. We would play these tapes when the children were falling asleep. We found that these became the common denominator with the children experiencing a night of restful sleep. As they grew up they would insist on having these tapes played while they were preparing for sleep.
I have personally found that music & Bible reading are a healthy combination for encouraging a calming day. When I am attempting a deeper Bible study when there are lots of noise, I many times I will put music on & this assists my ability to concentrate among a confusing environment.
So Go With God for His words bring peace & rest to the soul. Music with words expressing adoration & praise to our Savior bring comfort & communion to our soul.