GOD'S ECONOMY OF "GOOD" IS ITS VALUE, BELIEVING THAT IS OFTEN EASIER SAID ... THAN REALIZED
It is easy to dismiss the incredible value in the Economy of God's Creation which is described in the very first Chapter of His Word.
Genesis 1 describes God's Creation, from start to finish. But, only the gullible and timid use the first five words of the first chapter of God's Word as the complete and total basis for their disbelief and faithlessness in God:
"IN THE BEGINNING, GOD CREATED ..."
"FOGETABOUTIT," they say, "IT'S EASIER TO DISBELIEVE."
Those who do this simply do not have as large a knowledge base, scientifically or otherwise, as they think they have. Instead, while they do not know how they even came into being, their lives are living proof for the truth behind God's command for Adam and Eve to not eat of the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Convinced of the possibility that they could be god's themselves by just the suggestion of a serpent, a life created to slither along the ground without arms or legs and without a brain as large and as intricately designed as theirs, Adam and Eve proved they did not have sufficient knowledge to even determine what was Good and what was Evil.
Most people place the confidence of their entire eternal existence in their confidence in refuting the possibility of that which is presented in Genesis 1. That's right, way more than 50% of the entire population that has ever existed and exists now dismiss out of hand that the events in Genesis 1 could have ever happened in six days and have thus deprived themselves, and perhaps deprived even their posterity to an everlasting life without being able to enjoy the fruit of His Creation. One of the main reasons is their fixation with what a day means to them versus what it means to God. (2 Peter 3:3-9 and 13-17)
They do not even consider that God is not bound by our time, conceptions and perceptions of existence coming into physical being as we know it. They refuse to acknowledge the Intelligent Creator's authority, power and abilities to establish even the air they breathe that sustain their life as something that only He made possible. It is a little difficult for them to even conceive that time was something that God developed for our benefit, not His. There are no time constraints in forever, in eternity.
In condensing the rationale, use and process of God's Creation to a suggestion of a snake, they rationalize a decision that today is equivalent to coming up with a computer derived algorithm, a formula that professes to eke the last little bit of value in everything without their needing to know all that went into forming that conclusion.
Adam and Eve had no basis for determining the value of Good or Evil in God's command to not eat the fruit from the one single tree amongst all of the trees, even the Tree of Life, very near the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God designed and created everything for all of mankind. All they had was the suggestion planted in their minds by the serpent that God's command was depriving them of the opportunity of becoming gods themselves.
One reason why Adam and Eve gave a snake the benefit of the doubt about value or outcome of obeying God's command could be because they had no basis on which to value God's commands. All of God's good creations were there in the Garden called Eden when God made them.
And all of that happened in only six days?
But, even if we know the value of God's commands today, how is it possible for us to accept or deny them even without knowing the value of obeying them?
The answer to that question is the subject of knowing the difference between the GRIT required to enjoy the GRIST from the Fruit that God had given us. The value can also be implied when we look at the cost of Adam's and Eve's disobedience in reviewing the history of man's massacre of each other.
THE Fruit OF GRIT IS IN THE GRIST
People encounter times when things just don't go well. Any and all people often have disagreements with each other. They fall on times of financial strife, or they may lose their purposeful way for a multitude of uncontrollable factors. Those are times when many in society exhort those (us) encountering problems to develop GRIT.
When people think of GRIT, they think of sandpaper with small loose particles of stone or sand. Stone or sand pebbles and particles are known as "calculi." That's right, I was blown away when I learned that as well. Calculi is the plural of calculus. The word calculi comes from the Latin word calculus, which means "small stone" or "counter". Calculus comes from the Latin word "calx," which means "limestone" or "lime". Today, when we think of calculus, we think of math. But, math is just a reasoning process. Calculus is basically our decision making process, our reason for doing or even thinking things. Today, calculus is used in our AI software to examine all of the options and rationales to an answer to a problem or idea or design, and so forth.
So GRIT is stone that used to get what is wanted.
When I first tripped over the etymology of calculi, my mind went rather quickly to Scriptural references about Jesus being either The Cornerstone or A Stumbling Block. And then my mind added all of those words that relate to that, such as a strong fortress of stone (i.e., walls of Jericho, walls of Jerusalem and for that matter the gates that allow visitors in and keep bandits out, or pillars of wisdom that hold up a ceiling under which we reside, or an arch that reinforces a bridge from and to someplace or something).
I realized that all of those words and descriptions were metaphors for calculi, which was all of the reasons we had for thinking and doing things. That fit the use if stone particles as GRIT to use for a reason.
Hence, those particles are GRIT. Thus, the word "GRIT" might also be used in reference to the perseverance and stamina needed and given to accomplish something or finish a race.
For reference, see GOOGLE Scripture references about finishing a race: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Scripture+about+finishing+a+race
For Example:
2 Timothy 4:7-8
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing."
Acts 20:24
"But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of God’s grace."
Philippians 3:14-15
"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Hebrews 12:1
"Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us,"...
Hebrews 10:36
"For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised."
Alternatively, GRIT may refer to something inhibiting progress towards an intended goal, inhibiting even in annoying and potentially damaging ways, for example the wind may have been blowing and someone may have caught "a bit of grit in their eye(s)" or someone is simply being deviate, saying "no" to every suggestion regardless of appropriateness, just to get contextual moments to avoid impasse, or non-decisive choices.
BIBLICAL GRIST MILL
Making flour in the biblical days was accomplished after separating the wheat from the chaff and then painstakingly grinding it between large stones. The Bible, God's Word, especially The Book of Ruth, provides vivid descriptions of the activities around wheat harvest time. In the Book of Ruth, Boaz owned a wheat field that had already been worked, but wheat stalks still remained and that is when Naomi and her and Ruth, her daughter in law traveled to the land of Moab because they had heard it was a God given place place for food.
Naomi actually had two daughters-in-law, Oprah and Ruth who had both been married for about ten years before Naomi's husband and bother her daughters- in-laws' husbands had died. Oprah separated from Naomi, going her own way. But Ruth decided to stay with Naomi, her mother-in-law.
The story of Boaz and Ruth is a wonderful remembrance for when we go through tough times. We often could use some perspective from someone or a story of someone having gone through hardship or time consuming situations with limited results. The story of Boaz and Ruth can provide a perspective for you to consider. I encourage you all to read it and perhaps to even get together for group Bible study. Check out the posting in More Grace Space to learn of the story of the grit that Ruth needed. (Jesus' lineage runs through Boaz and Ruth are in - Mt.1:5, Lk. 3:32)
The grinding can take as much as three hours of back-breaking persistent turning of a top circular stone over a bottom circular stone that does not turn. Eventually, the wheat seeds are ground into flour, which after the three hours of hard work would be enough flour to feed a family of twelve with bread.
The chaff included the wheat plant husks and weeds considered to be evil. The term "evil" is not always negative. Rather, it can represent an unintended outcome or undesired value judgment.
In a case when the wheat was valued for food, the chaff may be thought of as evil because it generally has no nutrition. However, there are uses for the chaff that can provide value if one is looking for it. One value for the chaff could be as a possible source for fiber, which is known today to enhance intestinal digestion suitable insulation from the cold. Another use for the chaff could be as a source of fuel for fire being used to dry or reinforce clay or bricks.
Needless to say that if one went through the work of cutting and gathering wheat to make flour, the chaff might be considered a necessary evil outcome of the backbreaking and time consuming work required to make bread.
God's glory is included in the multiple uses for things, places, people, general environments and such things of His creation that He called "GOOD." Genesis 1:31 - ... "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good" ...
As the video explains wheat seeds from the stalks would be placed in holes between two circular stones, that used the weight and "GRIT" of the stones to separate the wheat. The stones applied the grit needed to turn the seeds into flour so that it could then be mixed with water and made into unleavened bread.
The flour that is ground after the back breaking toil of grinding the flower between the grit of two stones is called the GRIST. Thus, in this application, GRIST is the fruit of applying GRIT to achieve a desired result.
It takes a certain amount of GRIT to (persistence, work, time, resources, etc.) to achieve the desired GRIST.
EKING THE LAST BIT OF GRIT & GRIST IS OFTEN EASIER SAID THAN DONE
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