the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Daily Devotionals
Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
Ward Cleaver always appeared from work just as starched and clean as he could be. Who is Ward Cleaver? Ward was the Beaver's dad in "Leave It To Beaver". He was played by a charming actor named Hugh Beaumont. He was the epitome of fatherhood along with Robert Young during the 60's. However, that was the not the father I often saw return from work.
My dad worked at a feed mill run by a conglomerate known as Opekasit. The feed mill was located in South Solon, Ohio, about seven miles from Jeffersonville. When dad got home from work he often smelled of a mixture of sweat and grain. Many times he would have chaff from the grain soaked into the sweat around his neck. Other times he would come home with grease on his clothes from working with some of the machinery that Opekasit used to do different applications for the farmers they served.
Dad always looked like he had been working. He never wore a coat and tie to work but always the same gray uniform of a long sleeve shirt and cuffed pants complete with a cap. The left pocket of the shirt had "Opekasit Center" and "Kelley" over it on an embroidered patch. The other side of the front of the shirt had the Ralston Purina checkerboard emblem in red and white. The cap also had an embroidered patch of the checkerboard emblem employed by Ralston Purina.
When dad went to work he came home looking like it. One day a man went to work. He had some hard work to do. He had been given the wonderful, yet difficult, task of saving an entire world of people. His day started out with a trip to his country's capital city. That evening a great feast was prepared for him and his friends. After eating they went to spend some time in a garden. Yeah, I know, doesn't sound so hard. Then things got ugly.
He was betrayed by a friend into the hands of his enemies. He was beaten almost to the point of death. Then he was judged three different times and finally given to his enemies for them to execute him. "And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him." John 19:17, 18 "So when Jesus had received the sour wine He said, 'It is Finished.' " John 19:30 His work of salvation was done for that day.
But He hasn't come back from work yet. He will not come as the crucified Christ in blood soaked garments, but as the redeeming Lord. Will you be waiting to welcome Him back?
'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' Copyright 2010 © Tom Kelley. 'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' articles may be reproduced in whole under the following provisions: 1) A proper credit must be given to the author at the end of each story, along with their complete bio and a link to https://www.studylight.org/ 2) 'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' content may not be arranged or "mirrored" as a competitive online service.
