June 17 - Last Devotion


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Published: June 21st 2010
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Tonight is my last team meeting and the last devotion I am responsible for. I have been amazed that God has inspired these devotional times. Just as Alan, my brother-in-law, said - something will happen each day that will give you the inspiration...so it has been. Tonight, as I have thought about leaving Haiti, I chose John 20:6-7:

"Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there,
as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen."

How many times I have read this ... understanding that the burial cloths were lying there empty because He was gone...but missing the most important message. The cloth covering His head was neatly folded, lying separately, by itself. To grasp the significance of the folded napkin , we need to look at Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and the Servant. Every Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure it was exactly the way the master wanted it, furnished perfectly. The servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating his meal. The servant would not touch the table, until the master was finished.

If the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, mouth, clean his beard, and would wad up the napkin, tossing it on the table. The servant would then know to clear the table, as the wadded napkin meant "I'm done". However, if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, laying it beside his plate, the servant would not touch the table - because the folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back".

The folded head cloth (or napkin) was Jesus' message to us ... "I am not done...I will be coming back"!

I had used a cloth napkin to illustrate the wadded napkin and the neatly folded napkin, rejoicing in His message to us, as His servants, that the Master, was indeed not done with us, and was coming back.

I then personalized this message for myself, speaking of my experience in Haiti; His leadings; the compassion I had felt for His children; the privilege I had been given to be here and to serve Him; the assurance I felt that He was working throughout Haiti in the presence of Christian missions. I neatly folded the napkin and laid it on the table, saying, "I also would like to send the message...I am not done in Haiti...I will return".

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