Dung.
In our society it is a polite word for feces, refuse, etc. Albeit it’s a Biblical word as well. Have you noticed ABBA is not a prude?
Dung. A word that came to mind as I prayed this morning.
Let me give it to you straight; just like it came as I prayed for myself and others.
May it be that the dung people heap upon us be turned to fertilizer so that we will produce even more of the fruit of the HOLY SPIRIT.
I think it’s a good prayer. It was a new insight for me. Forgive me for sharing it so graphically with you, but perhaps you will be helped even as I.
It is our business when we are maligned by others with words or deeds that are tantamount to refuse – dung – that we allow the Holy Spirit to use that dung as fertilizer – that is one of the uses of dung in the Scripture. Here see for yourself:
DUNG Excrement of man or beast. “Dung” translates several different Hebrew and Greek words. An ash heap or rubbish heap was used to convey the haunt of the destitute (1 Sam. 2:8; Luke 14:35).
The first mention of dung in the Bible is in connection with the sacrificial rites. The sacred law required that the dung, along with other parts of the animal, should not be burned on the altar but should be burned outside the camp (Exod. 29:14; Lev. 4:11–12).
A major disgrace for a Jew was to have one’s carcass treated as dung (2 Kings 9:37). Dung has been used as fertilizer for centuries. It is recorded in Luke 13:8 and Isa. 25:10 that the people of Palestine used it for that purpose. Dry dung was and is often used as fuel (Ezek. 4:12–15). Animal dung was used as fuel when it was mixed with straw and dried to a suitable state for heating the simple bread ovens.
Paul used a powerful metaphor with the word “dung” when he made a comparison between his personal knowledge of Christ and those who did not know Christ (Phil. 3:8). The word is used also in Scripture to indicate symbolically the degradation to which a person or a nation might fall (2 Kings 9:37; Jer. 8:2).
Gary Bonner[1]
[1] Brand, C., Draper, C., England, A., Bond, S., Clendenen, E. R., Butler, T. C., & Latta, B. (2003). Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (444–445). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers. (Logos)
Galatians 5:
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
via Galatians 5 KJV – Stand fast therefore in the liberty – Bible Gateway.
There is no way for you or I to live unscathed in this world. DUNG is going to come our way. Perhaps we will just step in a pile of it by our own lack of discipline and diligence. Sometimes we even trip and fall headlong into it. Other times it is splashed on us by the falling of those around us. And then there are the times when it is flung at us with hurtful intent -perhaps the hardest of all to wash off. Nevertheless, it is crucial that we take the dung in all its ugliness and putrid smell to the LORD of HEAVEN and allow Him to transform it into fertilizer so the Garden of our Heart will produce more and more fruit to His glory and the good of others.
Presently I have no update on the three-year old boy we are praying for since yesterday. And, of course, there are others on all our minds as we gather here at our respective screens and times. And so, ABBA, we come with our concerns for others and for ourselves and we petition You for help in all our matters. Those things that are pleasant and not pleasant; those things that bring us happiness and not; all of it we bring with us and surrender to You entrusting each and all things to You, knowing without doubt that You are capable but more than capable You are willing and have our very best interest in Your Heart and with our cooperation Your Best will come. Thank You, our LORD and our GOD. In JESUS name. Amen and . . . . .
We have the God-given Right to do right in this wrong World,
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