Advent 24 Day 1 - we begin

 Welcome to the blog.  I wonder if there's anyone who has been here with me from the very first one which was in 2011? I wonder if I will be able to find anything remotely interesting to say this time round 😂  We shall see.

A few weeks ago I was sitting at my kitchen table painting Jesus stones.  Its been a couple of years since Ive done it and Id forgotten how therapeutic it can be painting tiny smiling baby faces onto stones lovingly gathered from Newcastle beach. That particular beach has the perfect stones. They are smooth, clean, oval shaped and of a uniform size.  Our other local beach in Hollywood has hardly any stones and loads of shells.  Funny that, given its the same sea lapping the shores. 

Anyhow, I got to thinking about stones and how significant they seem to be in the Bible. Right off the top of my head I was able to list off about a dozen instances where stones feature heavily..... so I thought that maybe this year I'd take 'Stones of the Bible' as my theme. It doesn't sound massively exciting now Ive said it out loud.... but this blog is always a bit of a stab in the dark as we get started and then hopefully as I tune in more and more it turns into something helpful/inspiring.

So lets start at the very beginning....its a very good place to start 😊  The first mention of a stone in the Bible is in Genesis 28

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel


10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”



There is alot to say about this passage so here are my highlights/thoughts/questions.

1) Dreams are a significant way God has always spoken to His people.  Jacob was a bit of a tricky character - he has cheated his brother and deceived his father but God still chooses to speak to him in his dreams.  If  He can speak to Jacob He can speak to you.  When did you last ask God to speak to you as you sleep?

2) 'Jacob's Ladder' is a picture of Jesus.  He is the Way.  He says in John 1:51   “Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” So right here at the very start of everything Jesus is already pictured - its just that we dont know its Him yet 😁

3) God repeats the promise He gave to Abraham to Jacob, even though Jacob hardly seems like the ideal candidate to be entrusted with the covenant. Romans 11:29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.   When God makes a promise nothing we can do can cancel or disqualify it

4) Jacob uses his pillow to make a memorial to his epic meeting with God.  Memorials are important in the Bible, they are physical places where people can go to remind themselves of who God is and what He has done.  We all memorialise.  We have photos of loved ones on the mantlepiece, favourite children's toys hidden in drawers, memorabilia of holidays or concerts or family gatherings in shoeboxes in the attic.  But where do we commemorate Jesus and the things He has done in our lives?  Maybe in our journals?  Maybe at Christmas?  Perhaps telling our stories in a blog.  Maybe we could do better at leaving a memorial behind for those who come after us?  Just a thought.  (Heres a very simple way you could literally carve a memory of God's faithfulness to you in stone  https://www.eternalwall.org.uk/)

5) Despite seeing the angels , and The Lord  (was this Jesus?) and hearing God speak, Jacob still hedges his bets by saying 'If God....then I'   Sound familiar?  I'm sure we are all guilty of doing that bargaining thing. And God graciously lets us bargain and still blesses us.  Hilariously Jacob says that if God holds up his end of the bargain then Jacob will give Him a tenth of all he has.  A tithe. As though God needs Jacobs favour, or his money. It seems ridiculous when you read it on the page, but stop to think for a moment ..... havent we all said the same thing at some point?  If I get this answer to prayer/ job/promotion/inheritance/commission/sale then I promise I will.........


As we start our journey towards Christmas day let's be thankful that Jesus has always been the central character of the God story.  He was there at the beginning and is still here now, opening heaven to us, being the ladder which gives us access to glory.  He has always sought out the ordinary, selfish, sinful person to bless.  The promises and the blessings that rest on us are to flow out through us to all the people on earth. The postman, the waitress, the receptionist, the car mechanic, the bus driver.  Today let's determine to be a blessing.  Because we have been so so blessed ourselves.  And lets remember all the times and places and ways we have encountered Jesus - our own Bethel moments

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