Getting Dust on Ya'

It is once again Wednesday which means am linking up with Rachel Wojnsroski for Whimsical Wednesdays! Feel free to pop on over to her site by clicking here.

I am a big fan of history, specifically history surrounding biblical times. I love to know the ins and outs of what went on back then; what people did, their living situations, cultural beliefs and practices, and how they impacted history. Because of all this, I must give you a nerd alert! You may end up with more information than you want and if you are not a nerd, you might not find the information as fascinating as I do. If you are up for the challenge of reading it anyway, than by all means read on!

I recently learned some fun facts about rabbis. Everyone knows Jewish men have the absolute coolest

Matisyahu...example of a great beard

beards ever.  If you don't believe me check out Matisyahu's (before he shaved it, sad day)! His beard is almost as cool as his music. ANYWAY, I digress. Other than their fantastic beards, you may not know much about rabbis. Rabbis were the ancient Jewish leaders that taught people about God and pondered biblical truths (specifically those found in the Torah, which is a name for the compilation of the first five books of the Bible). In order to be qualified as a "rabbi" they had to have disciples. These disciples were men (and possibly women) who followed them around and looked at their life as an example of how to live. Essentially, a disciple's goal was to be as much like their rabbi as they possibly could. Jesus was a rabbi, and his disciples were the men and women who followed him and desired to live as he lived and love as he loved.

Back in the days of the rabbis there was a book called the Mishnah, and it was basically a collection of a variety of rabbinical thoughts on God's word. One rabbi named Yose Ben Yoezer (imagine yelling that when you're mad at your child) wrote a piece in the Mishnah (not that you care, but it is in the Mishnah Avot 1:4) that is roughly translated, "Your house ought to be a meeting place for the sages, and to wrestle in the dust at their feet, and drink their words with thirst." In modern day this quote has gotten shortened to a phrase that I recently heard, and it stirred something inside me. That phrase is "May you be covered by the dust of your rabbi".

Something about that image gets me excited! It makes me want to raise my arm and yell, "ooh, ooh, pick me pllleeeasssee pick me!" I might be a bit overzealous in this, but if I'm going to have dust on me (and if you read my post yesterday you know that I am) than I want to make it Jesus' dust! Because essentially, he is my "rabbi" and I am his disciple. I want to sit at his feet and let the dust from his journey rub off onto me. I want to be that close. I want to smell the sweat (would it be considered holy sweat if it belongs to Jesus?) and I want to wrestle with his words and let them mold me into looking more like him.

I want to look like Jesus in the way I parent my children and love my husband. As I get his dust on me, I can learn to be loving and patient and kind. I can learn to discipline my kids with tenderness instead of in anger. I can learn to confront my husband with a gentle spirit instead of a spiteful one. I can learn to see the joy I am gifted every day and live each moment to the fullest. These are my desires, as I learn to live like my rabbi Jesus. Maybe it sounds corny to some, and I understand why some people don't "get it". But nothing sums up my relationship with Jesus more than having a desire to be covered in his dust. Because as I am, I know that I will rub off onto my family in a positive way. Maybe they will even get dusty.

I can teach and preach all I want, but if I don't live it out my words mean nothing. I know my children will not remember my words so much as my actions. So may I live like my rabbi as best I can each day, and may you be covered in the dust of the rabbi Jesus.