Shamar

[00:00:03] Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the weekday podcast. I'm Chuck Allen, and today I want to dive into a word from the Old Testament. A word that, well, is. It's not just a word. It's a calling, maybe a posture, possibly a way of being in the world. [00:00:18] And the word is shamar. [00:00:21] S H A M A r, Shamar. [00:00:25] Maybe you've never heard it, maybe you've heard it and blew past it. But today, let's pause, let's let it linger. Let's see what it has to say to us right here, right now, the word shamar. [00:00:42] Okay, back to shemar. [00:00:45] Let's start at the beginning. Let's go all the way back to the garden and Adam. In the book of Genesis, the world is new. The world is fresh. The world is unspoiled. Sin has not entered the world. And God places Adam and evil in this garden. And the text says, this is in the new living translation, which I like to preach from the Lord. God placed the man in the garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. Now, that phrase, watch over is the Hebrew word shemar. But shemar is more than just watching. It's guarding. Did you get that? It's guarding. It's keeping, it's protecting. It's super, like, paying attention. It's like standing at the edge of something precious, something fragile, and saying, I. I will not let harm come to this. Not on my watch. [00:01:34] But it's not just about gardens. It's about life. It's about relationships. It's about the world we live in. Shamar shows up all over the Old Testament. God tells Abraham, keep my covenant, Shemar. Well, God tells Moses, keep my commandments, Shemar. It's as if God is whispering over and over again, hey, pay attention. Watch, protect and treasure. This is genuinely special to me. [00:02:04] So what does that mean for me and you? I mean, maybe you're thinking to yourself right now, well, I'm not in a garden. I'm not Adam. I'm not Abraham. [00:02:14] But maybe you are. [00:02:15] Maybe your life is a garden. Maybe your relationships are gardens. Maybe your work, your neighborhood, maybe your city. Maybe all of it is a garden. And you're being invited to shemar it to guard it, keep it to protect it. [00:02:31] Imagine if every conversation, if every interaction, if every decision was shaped by this posture of shemar. Imagine if we saw ourselves as guardians, not just consumers. What would change, what would heal, what would grow? [00:02:51] But there's more. [00:02:52] In Psalm 120, word. I'm sorry? In Psalm 121, the word shemar shows up six times. [00:02:59] The Lord is your keeper. The lord will keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life over and over. It's shamar. God is the ultimate keeper, the ultimate guardian, the one who watches over you. He stands at the edge of your life and says, not on my watch. Which, by the way, has forever been and forever will be. [00:03:23] So shemar isn't just something we do. It's something God does for us. It's something we receive. We are kept, we are guarded. We are watched over even when we forget that all that's happening, even when we fail miserably, even when we wander far from the garden. [00:03:43] And maybe that right there is the invitation to receive shemar and to give shamar to be kept and to keep. To be guarded and to guard. To be watched over and to watch over. [00:04:01] What if the day you asked, where am I being called to, Shemar? What in my life needs my attention, my protection, my care? And what if you trusted that as you do, you were being well, shamarred by the one who never slumbers and never sleeps. [00:04:20] That's it for today's weekday podcast. I'm Chuck Allen. Go out there and shamar something and remember you're being shamard as well. God bless you. Thanks so much for joining me on today's weekday podcast.