Ichabod

When I hear the name, Ichabod, I generally think of Sleepy Hollow's headless horseman. The bible's reference is much scarier.

"She named the child Ichabod, saying, 'The glory has departed from Israel!'" This was the declaration of Phinehas' wife when the ark of the covenant was captured and taken from Israel. Recently I heard a preacher declare that if we ran from the Lord's will on our lives, He would write Icahbod on our lives. I'd rather confront Ichabod's headless horseman.

I heard one preacher declare, not too long ago, that my sin would be visited on myself and my children in the forms of sickness, deformities, and poverty among other things. This threw me into a frenzy of condemnation and frantic holy living. I've come to realize though that the message of Jesus is different. It's even in his name. Emmanuel, God with us.

God is with us. He said He would never leave us nor forsake us. When we fall, He'll pick us up. Because He does love us, He may chastise us from time to time, but even this is something to be desired. I have been blessed by the Lord and chastised by Him, and both have left me with the same feeling of well being and security. I fear the Lord, but am no longer afraid of Him. He can do with me as He desires because I know, as I've stated in a previous post today, that He is good, and would never harm me for harm's sake. This is why Job could say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."