Bound In The Bundle

After I got the kids going with school work this morning, I took my Bible and went outside to sit in the sun on my porch steps. I had already done our daily reading earlier in the morning, but it just seemed like God was saying in my heart to go and read some more. There is a chapter in I Samuel that I read often, it is one of my favorite Bible stories, and I have literally read it hundreds of times over the years, and a bunch of times in the last few weeks -- but today I found something in there that I never noticed before.

I came to I Samuel 25: 29 and saw the words "...bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God..."

I'm not exactly sure why, but those words really touched my heart in a special way today! Maybe it's because of recent events, or concern over upcoming surgery, or who knows why...but I thought it was such a wonderful statement from God! I realized that when our life is held in God's hands, we really have no reason to fear or worry. We each have a "bundle of life" that God has given to us, and it is a bundle that He carefully holds.

I had a number of thoughts go through my mind...we use the phrase "bundle" when referring to a new baby, a bundle of joy, or we bundle up a baby in a blanket. Doesn't the word "bundle" just make you feel secure when you think about it? Or sometimes I have taken a gift, or a treat for someone, and I will bundle it up and carefully wrap it so that nothing will fall out and nothing will be damaged or lost. How wonderful to think that God does the same with our bundle of life!

Last year my children spent a few days at Pastor and Miss Julie's house. When they returned, Emily asked me at bedtime "Mama, can you bundle me up tight in the blanket like Pastor did when me and Chris went to sleep at their house?" And every night since then, she asks me to bundle her up in her blanket tightly like Pastor did -- Just that kind gesture of being bundled up to sleep gave my Emily comfort and security -- and it seems like I can never get the blankets "as tight as Pastor does"... But I try! That reminds me of how we are "bound in the bundle of life with the Lord".

I have read this chapter so often that I almost have it memorized, and yet -- God can still give me something fresh and new and heart-changing from those verses. God knew I needed to be reminded of His security and protection and care. Isn't it great to know that when we belong to God, we are bound in the bundle of life with Him. Even the word "bound" implies that we are wrapped up tightly, and tied securely. What a wonderful bundle God has given me! I am so glad that He knows my bundle from start to finish...He knows where I began and He knows where I will finish, and He knows every single step along the way -- and He has it all bundled up safely with Him. He is not going to lose my bundle, or drop it somewhere, or misplace it. He is not going to ask someone else to take care of it for a while, He is not going to set it down and forget about it. He is not going to place it in storage, or put it out with the trash. He keeps it with Him, bound and bundled. Safe and Secure.

"Bound in the Bundle of Life

with the Lord thy God"

What a glorious thought!