2005-03-15 - Thatched Roofs

Matthew 15:26, "And He answered and said, 'It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.'"

Here is something I read and would like to turn into a thought for the day. Please know that this "thought for the day" is from the 1500's, and that should qualify it.

-- Houses back then had thatched roofs - thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats, and other small animals lived in the roof. When it rained, it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slide off the roof. This is where the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs," came from.

This thought is something that I read recently, and it reminded me of some time I spent in London. I took an excursion to Stratford-Upon-Avon, which is where Shakespeare was born. They have a whole community there, about two hours outside of London. It was amazing, even for a non-shakspaerian type like myself. But they had thatched roofs. The town was very modern, but the house of Shakespeare (where they think he was born) was thatched. I had never learned that this was the case. However, I have a few thoughts on this.

The phrase, "It's raining cats and dogs," is normally used in reference to a big rain storm. But I have heard it used differently, and that is where I would like to focus. I have heard it used in relation to the storms of life that we all experience. Sometimes things hit so hard, and everything seems to hit at the same time, so that often, if feels like it is raining cats and dogs. The question is really how we deal with the storms of life. We all experience them, but how do we deal with them? The only way I can say it, and I feel like I say it all the time - I said it to my theology class this morning - is we must rest in Christ. We must rest in the mercy of Christ alone.

We hit on this yesterday, but I can't let it rest. The gospel is for those who will believe, and those who have believed. We all mess up, and continue to need the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. It is true that when we turn to Christ in faith, our sins are forgiven past, present, and future. I was overjoyed in my class this morning, when we were talking about sin and everyone, many of whom are not Christians, admitted they all knew they were sinners. Then we came to the sins of infants or newborns, and it was told to me by one of the class members that she did not like that some think we are born into the world in sin. I know a lot of people don't like that, but it is hard to get around Romams Chapter 5 on this one.

It is a doctrine called the imputation of Adam's sin. And, while this was really outside the scope of the class, and something I had not planned on dealing with, it is an important doctrine. It is part of the Christian belief system to know that as Adam was our representative in the fall into sin, so is Christ our representative in our rescue from sin. I know this is hard-core stuff, and please read Romans 5 before responding to me. But I will tell you all the same thing I told my class. We all struggle, and part of getting past things is admitting this. I actually wrote a lot more here, but I am ending it here and pressing delete on what I wrote below.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

tim@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org
http://www.papercutpress.com