Of Lambs and Yams

Song of Sol. 2: 15 Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines

Let’s go back, way back, almost as far back as we can go. The problem existed back there as well. Genesis chapter 4 tells the story. Both brothers went to worship. They were told how to worship – by offering a lamb as a sacrifice. Obviously it was easier for Abel to do that. After all, he was a shepherd. Cain, being a crop farmer, brought the best from his field. (With my Trelawny background I’m pretty sure it was good yellow yam). God accepted Abel’s worship and rejected Cain’s. (Yo Bro, He said lamb, not yam. Duh!)

But this front page article from the Eden Gleaner was not just written to give ideas for the first episode of CSI. There are lessons there for those who really want to serve the Lord. First of all, we don’t just do things because it is a custom. It is important to know why we do the things we do. Our worship should be meaningful. God had told why a lamb: it represented Jesus, whose blood would be shed for our sins. It said that the worshipper had faith in the sacrifice that Jesus would make. The yam? No blood. Couldn’t work.

Another lesson is that even when we do not see the reason clearly enough, God must be obeyed. After all He is zillions of times wiser than we are. “God will understand” is usually not good enough. He only “understands” if we have genuinely done our very best to comply. Cain could have traded his yam for a lamb. After all of what God had done for him, wasn’t God worth the trouble? Obviously there was a problem of love and gratitude.

Finally, God does not like carelessness. When He told Moses to build the sanctuary, He planned it down to the last detail. Uzzah got zapped because he chose to forget not to touch the ark (2 Sam. 6). God wants us to be careful, attentive to details when we serve Him. He says, “Catch the little foxes before they ruin the grapes”. In other words, “Be careful in the details of your Christian life before Me, because these little compromises usually show a bad attitude that will lead to you being totally lost”.

Dear Lord, thanks for the warning and the timely advice. Make me alert and careful to always obey and give my very best, in Jesus’ name, amen.