During one of my placements I worked in a police station for a few days. After a hard day’s work I stopped to read a newspaper a few minutes before clocking off. As I was reading the paper I suddenly I realised that the room had gone quiet. A man had come into the room and was staring at me. I kept on reading the paper whilst thinking to myself, “I’m sure I’m supposed to recognise you from somewhere.” Unfortunately I failed to realise that it was the Chief Inspector in charge of the station, until after he’d started having a go at me. No one on the room bothered to say anything in my defence, and before I could open my mouth he had walked out.
The Bible consists of sixty-six books that were written over a 1,600-year period. Yet despite this vast period of time the Bible contains a continual non-contradictory thread of truth throughout all of its books. It speaks of a God who loves us, and, although it instructs us concerning how we are to live our lives, most of the Bible is about telling us what God has done.
Numbers 6:24-26
A Rabbi once told a story about two brothers. One brother was married and had three children, whilst the other was a bachelor. They both worked the land their father had left them, and at harvest time started cutting the wheat and placing it in bundles. During the first night of harvest the bachelor awoke and thought of all the mouths his brother had to feed. He got up and cut a few extra sheaves, then placing them in his brother’s pile. Later the same night his brother awoke and thought about how his brother would find difficulty in old age with no children to support him. He then got out of bed and cut a few extra sheaves, placing them in his brother’s pile so he’d have extra finance to prepare for future years. Over the next few nights both men repeated their actions, unbeknown to each other. At the end of the harvest they counted their sheaves and were surprised to see they both had the same number. After talking and realising how this had come about they looked at one another and embraced, recognising how much they were loved.
