{"id":101,"date":"2012-11-11T14:23:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-11T14:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=101"},"modified":"2012-11-11T14:23:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-11T14:23:00","slug":"the-dishwasher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=101","title":{"rendered":"The Dishwasher"},"content":{"rendered":"

My grandson Percy is 21 months old. He is a ball of energy and loves to explore. He also loves to open things. Cabinets, drawers, doors, the dishwasher. If you\u2019ve been around a toddler, you understand.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been pretty good to keep him out of spaces where he might get into trouble or get hurt. But there was no way to do so with the dishwasher. It was easy to open. There wasn\u2019t a locking mechanism on it, so he\u2019d just pop it open.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
So apart from the fact that he could open the door when it was washing, or that he could have access to knives or dangerous utensils, he loved climbing into the dishwasher.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As concerned grandparents, we did the only thing we could think of. We purchased a new dishwasher.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
On our search for this dishwasher, we had a set of criteria, not in this particular order:<\/span><\/div>\n
    \n
  1. It had to hold a lot of dishes<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. It also had to have a small load ability<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. It needed to be quiet<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. It had to be white<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. The buttons needed to be on the top with locking ability (another of Percy\u2019s favorite things to do is push buttons)<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. It had to be Percy-proof (difficult to open)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    So the first thing I did when we entered an appliance store was pull on each door handle of all the dishwashers. If it seemed difficult for me to open, I figured it would be impossible for Percy to open.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    From that test, we would then choose the ones that fit the other criteria for our search. We visited all the places within a 50 mile radius of our home that carried appliances. I opened a lot of dishwashers.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    The salespeople enjoyed the process as well. Several had to admit they had never heard of making it difficult to get into a dishwasher. They are designed for easy access. Several even had a good laugh over our dilemma.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    I have to admit that this was a difficult decision. There was a lot of work put into making this choice.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    We find in Deuteronomy that Israel had a choice to make. Moses thought it was an easy choice. But he also knew it had to be their choice. So he shared all the pros and cons of this important decision.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Moses and the priests called Israel together and said, \u201cBe silent, O Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the Lord your God. Obey the Lord your God and follow his command and decrees that I give you today.\u201d<\/i> (Deuteronomy 27:9-10 \u2013 NIV)<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    There is a lot in these verses, but what I\u2019d like to show is that Israel had already been chosen by God. Now it was their turn to make a choice.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    After quite a long speech on blessings and curses, the renewal of the covenant, and prosperity in the Lord, Moses gets to the main point. In Deuteronomy 30:11-20, Moses lays it all out for them. He makes a great case for God.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Moses believes it is an easy decision to make and says so. \u201cNow what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.\u201d <\/i>(Deuteronomy 30:11 \u2013 NIV) Moses goes on to say that they don\u2019t have to go to heaven to find it. They don\u2019t have to cross the sea to get it.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    \u201cNo, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.\u201d<\/span><\/i> (Deuteronomy 30:14 \u2013 NIV) I love this verse for it is exactly the same for us on this side of the cross. God\u2019s Word is within us. In our hearts and should be on our tongues. And the reason? So that we may know it and obey.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Moses then tells them they have a choice. Life and prosperity or death and destruction.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    This great leader of God enlightened Israel of the consequences of disobedience and the blessings of obedience. For Moses, there wasn\u2019t a decision to be made. He had already chosen to follow God. Israel needed to do the same.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    One final swaying argument for God and Moses would hand the leadership role over to Joshua.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    \u201cThis day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.\u201d<\/span><\/i> (Deuteronomy 30:19-20 \u2013 NIV)<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    I can hear the great crowd cheering after Moses\u2019 convincing words. They are inspiring words. Words that called Israel to action. Israel was all in at this point.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Oh, we know that Israel made bad decisions throughout their history in the Old Testament, but at this point, they chose God. They chose blessings. They chose prosperity. They chose life.<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Do Moses\u2019 words call you to action? Are they enough to convince you to love God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him? Are you willing to accept God as your life?<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    As a Christ-follower, I must ask myself a few questions as well. Am I thrilled that God\u2019s Word is very near? Are God\u2019s commands in my heart? Are they on my lips? Do I listen to God\u2019s voice? Do I hold fast to Him?<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    I\u2019ll say it like Moses did. It\u2019s not a difficult decision. Choose life!<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Well, our searching paid off. Percy cannot open the new dishwasher; therefore, he will not be crawling inside of this one. It was a good decision on our part. I\u2019m so glad that choosing God isn\u2019t as difficult as choosing a dishwasher!<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Donna<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    My grandson Percy is 21 months old. He is a ball of energy and loves to explore. He also loves to open things. Cabinets, drawers, doors, the dishwasher. If you\u2019ve been around a toddler, you understand. We\u2019ve been pretty good to keep him out of spaces where he might get into trouble or get hurt. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,13,20,11,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-believing-god","category-finding-god","category-hearing-god","category-loving-god","category-seeking-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}