January 7 - Genesis 18-19:28

The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.  Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby.  When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

     He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.  Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.  Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way -- now that you have come to your servant."

     "Very well," they answered, "do as you say."

     Genesis 18:1-5

God in the flesh.  He came to Earth and dwelt among us...B.C.  Before Christ.  We tend to give God the role of stern and slightly irritable judge and jury ready to blast us into oblivion for the least offense and Christ the role of all-forgiving, sacrificial brother who's been to Earth and knows all of our struggles first hand.  Hey, this Christ thing was God's idea.  And He, God, too, made the trip to Earth in the form of a man.  I mean close enough to being a man that Abraham offers him water and food and rest, right?  God walked the Earth...at least, enough of it that Abraham suggests He might want His feet washed.  How far do you think God walked that day?  What caught His attention along the way?  How did the wind feel on His face (oops, His beard).  Think He picked up a small smooth stone and rubbed it between His fingers?  Did he step over puddles on the road?  Or step in them?  I think God loves this place.  He made it.  God was and is here.  And not just floating in the clouds doing the standard and accepted Godly kind of stuff.  He eats with his hands at Abraham's table.  He gets sweaty wrestling with Jacob.  He gives Moses a peek at his backside.  

Did God wash his own feet?  Or did one of Abraham's servants do it?  Imagine touching God.  Would you be changed forever?  Would the power flow out of him and into you?  Would you be empowered forever after in a way that only coming into contact with God could empower you?  Maybe everything the servant touched from that day forward was instantly clean.  Dip his finger in the water and it was pure.  Pick up that slice of baloney and it was fresh.  Hang up your dirty clothes and they are clean.  Just because you'd kneeled at the feet of God and washed them.

And think of God resting under the tree.  May have been the first rest he'd enjoyed since day seven.  And what became of the tree that shaded the Maker of the Universe?  Was it cut down to make a boat for a fisherman?  A manager for a child?  The crossbeam of a cross?  Or does it grow still, ancient and forgotten in Israel?

And God eats.  He eats.  Wonder what He had?  A little lamb?  A bit of unleavened bread and cup of wine?  Or perhaps he made his own...with a cup of water?  Did he do anything in the meal that would hint at supper sometime in the future?  Can't imagine that He didn't.  God has a thing for symbolism and foreshadowing have you noticed?  He just can't seem to help Himself.  So what did He help Himself to at the table?  And with what words did He bless his food?  "Well, I made the seeds and the ground and the harvest time.  If I hadn't of created food it wouldn't be here.  But, Abraham, I think you anyway." (Hint:  Jimmy Stewart)

Do you think God enjoyed the experience of being on Earth?  Walking and washing and eating?  All of the things we find a nuisance and look for a way to invent a way around them.  Did He like it here?  Or was He appalled by our lack of hygiene, the dirt and germs and flies?  Since he made all those things, I don't think He'd be put off at the least by any of them.  I think He liked being here.  Because He came back.