Today is day forty of this reading venture. I've survived an entire flood (40 days and 40 nights)! In honor of the 40th day, I have decided to take the opportunity to reflect on what I've learned after 40 days and what I'm thinking about this whole idea. These are not in any particular order.
1. Daily reading of the Bible is becoming something more natural for me to do. Before this experience, my Bible reading was scarce. I only read the Bible when I followed along as preachers read it (and this was only occasionally), or when I read the Veggie Tales Bible to Elizabeth. Regardless, my Bible reading was rare. Now, since I've read for 40 days in a row, Bible reading has become more of a practice, something I plan for and do each day. Bible reading is a more of a habit now. I remember to look through the Bible.
2. The relationship between God and Israel has shown me much about the relationship between God and us. God loves Israel; they are his people. They are small, defenseless, and weak, and God chooses them to be his. While he loves them, he also disciplines them for disobedience. Today, we are Israel in relationship to God. By looking at how God deals with Israel, we can learn how to communicate with God. How to trust Him. How to love Him.
3. The Old Testament is connected to a specific historical time and culture, which means that some of the "laws" handed down to the Israelites are outdated and not meant to be hard and fast commands for us today. However, determining which laws are cultural and which laws are not is not something I have enough training in to make any sort of coherent statement. Yet it is something I think we should consider.
4. God is good, but he disciplines people he loves. God is loving, creative, and good, yet he is also a jealous God. He wants all of us, our whole being. He doesn't want us to have other gods; he doesn't want to share us with other things that would take us away from our relationship with God. Still, God is good.
5. I have discovered connections in the Bible that I had never noticed before. Connections to the New Testament. Connections to the church today. Connections to my personal life. They are numerous and varied, but they are there. And this part of the whole experience has been one of the most exciting things for me so far.
6. Memorizing scripture is a valuable practice, one that I plan to pass on to my children.
7. People in the Bible are not perfect, nor should they necessarily be our role models; however, they can still teach us things about how to be in relationship with God.
8. God is creative, and he has passed on this same creativity to us, too.
I hope the next forty days are just as good as these last forty.
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