Green Acres
So long as we are occupied with any other
object than God Himself, there will be neither rest for the heart nor peace for
the mind. But when we receive all that enters our lives as from His hand, then,
no matter what may be our circumstances or surroundings--whether in a hovel or
prison-dungeon, or at a martyr's stake--we shall be enabled to say, " The
lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places" (Ps. 16:6). But that is the
language of faith, not of sight nor of sense.
A.W. Pink
Those of you who are not the ripe old age of me might not have ever heard
of this show but it was one I loved to watch as a kid. Green Acres was a show about a big city
attorney named Oliver and his Hungarian wife Lisa. Oliver was originally a Manhattan attorney
who decided to trade the big city life for the rural countryside. It portrayed the lives of city folk moving to
the country as greenhorns. Lisa hated the country and wanted the big city life
back, but she actually fit in better than Oliver because of her
quirkiness.
There were episodes about Oliver arguing with the phone company about
moving his phone inside the house. It
was installed on a telephone pole and you had to climb the pole to answer the
phone. There was Mr. Haney the salesman
who sold the ramshackle “Haney Farm” to the gullible Oliver.
Oliver and Lisa had elderly neighbors who never had children so they
adopted a pig named Arnold Ziffel as their son who understood English, went to
the local school and loved westerns.
Oliver seemed to be the only one who understood that Arnold was
livestock and not a person. Arnold would sometimes show up at Oliver and Lisa’s
house to watch TV.
I was thinking about this long ago show and it actually made me long for
the country life. We grew up in the
country where riding horses was the norm.
We rode in the evenings as kids.
Dad would get home from work and we would saddle all the horses and all
six of us would ride for several hours.
It was amazing how much you could see riding around the
neighborhoods. We actually caught up
with neighbors along the way because they would be out in their yards so we
would stop to talk and catch up. We also
had great family time. You had plenty of
time to talk with no traffic noise or exhaust fumes and no one was ever in a
hurry to get anywhere.
When I look back I long for those days.
I live and work in the big city now and there are more motorcycles than
horses and fewer kids riding bicycles and more playing video games.
If I had it to do over I would spend more time with God than I did back
then. It is wonderful to reflect back on
those long ago times but I realize now that I didn’t appreciate God’s creation
as much as I do now. There were many
years that I wasted in not seeing God in everything around me. Think of how much I missed by not tuning into
Him.
Prayer for the Day:
Heavenly Father, I miss those long ago days of carefree summers and where life
was much simpler. Now I am always in a
hurry all the time because there isn’t enough time in the day to get to
everything. Help me to slow down in this
fast paced environment and appreciate Your creation. I can find You anywhere but I need to slow
down so I won’t miss a detail.
Scripture:
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