God's Will

Day 225: Matthew 22

So often we ask ourselves, "What is God's will for our lives?" "What does he want me to do with my life?" "What is his will?"

It is important to ponder and reflect on the answers to these questions. But it strikes me that somehow these questions have already been answered. We know what God's will is. Jesus says in Matthew 22: “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Jesus has already answered these questions for us. He wants us to love the Lord with everything we have in us--to give our all to love and honor him; he also wants us to love others, those who we consider our neighbors and those who we don't. Love God and love people. That sums up what God's will for our lives is. When we are considering and contemplating what specific career we will have, we should think first about how we can have a profession where we can love God and love people. In order to live a fully integrated life where our faith isn't separate from our work, we should choose careers that allow us to first love God and love people. Our wills and desires should come after God's will and should still align to these two commands.

Jesus: The Preacher and Teacher

Day 211: Matthew 5

Matthew 5 contains the first recorded "sermon" of Jesus, and probably his most famous one--the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes are recorded here, and so are teachings on anger, adultery, vows, revenge, and love for enemies. This sermon is striking on so many levels, but mostly because Jesus takes the Book of Law that all the people to which he's speaking about knows and understands and abolishes it. But he doesn't just abolish it and say, "Never mind all that stuff." Rather, he takes the laws that these these people know and believe and obey and extends them. He takes them further. He doesn't just talk about the action; he gets to the heart of the matter, literally, by showing us how our actions are really borne out of our heart, and it is our heart that we need to get right and then our actions will follow.

What amazing, inspiring, and radical things to say. Here is Jesus--his first sermon ever--and here he is already making radical claims that would upset and rile up an audience. But he speaks the truth. He teaches. He takes what these people know about the law--abolishes it--and then rebuilds it on a new foundation--a heart foundation. It really is all about our hearts and minds--what we think and feel. Jesus is already an amazing, provocative teacher. I'm glad he continues to teach us all these years later.

God's Method of Protection

Day 128: Psalm 119

So, I made it to the longest chapter in the Bible. Psalm 119. This psalm has always seemed intimidating to me before because it takes up pages and pages in the Bible. But when it comes to reading something, it really isn't that long. The main thing I have learned from reading this psalm today is that God's laws are not meant to harm us or to hinder us; rather, they are meant to free us, to allow us to fly on tops of God's wings as he protects us. His laws are good for us; they are meant to make us joyful and carefree. He has given us these commands so that we can find our rest in him.

As it says in Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path."

Thank you, God, for setting boundaries for me. Thank you for protecting me.

A Remembered Passage

Day 108: Psalm 19-21

Today is Christmas Eve. It's such an exciting time of the year. Many people are off of work and are able to take some time to rest, celebrate, eat good food, and spend time with family. I hope you are having a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season.

I read Psalm 19 for today. In the 6th grade, I had to memorize this entire chapter. I didn't think I could do it, but day after day we recited it together as a class, and soon we were all reciting the 14 verses in this chapter. I have often come back to this chapter. It's such a beautifully written chapter with beautiful imagery and a wonderful view of God:

Just listen to some of these verses:
"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

"In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course."

"The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple"

"The precepts of the LORD are right,
 giving joy to the heart."

"The fear of the LORD is pure,
       enduring forever."

Thank you, Mrs. Glover, for teaching us this verse. It's such a unique one to learn, but it paints a beautiful image of God and the heavens.

Deuterono...WHAT?

Day 38: Deuteronomy 21-25

Have you ever wondered why we (as Christians) believe and abide by certain passages of scripture while other passages of scripture are chalked up to being cultural and we therefore don't see them as relevant? For example, the reading for today discusses what happens when a man: marries more than one woman, hangs someone on a pole, needs to kill rebellious children, takes a woman captive, flogs someone in the presence of a judge, has to marry his sister-in-law because his brother dies, wants to find proof of a woman's virginity (I have to admit that I hate the idea of this one), and loans money to people and shouldn't charge interest to someone from the same country while he should charge it to "foreigners".

After reading this list, what do you think of these laws? Don't most of them seem outrageous to you? Outdated, even? They do to me. But why is this the case? Why do we view some laws, particularly in the Old Testament, as being outdated, ancient, and purely connected to Jewish culture, while others within these same passages are viewed as laws for us today? Hard and fast rules we need to follow?

I can only guess at the reason here (and I'm sure there are many, with one being that Jesus changed and extended many of these laws), but it seems to me that the answer has to do with our own current notions of right and wrong. That is, when we view a practice as "right"-eous today, we thus view the biblical practice as outdated and associated with the Israelite culture; however, when we view the practice as sinful today, we view the biblical practice as right (and therefore relevant, appropriate, and current).

For instance, today, I think we can all agree that we view it as wrong to flog, hang, or murder people. As a result, we view the biblical commands related to these "sins" (or practices) as something that was cultural to the Israelites and therefore not relevant to us today. However, when we view a behavior or attitude today as "sinful," we refer to the passages in the Bible (where it is also deemed sinful), and we justify our way of looking at the world through the biblical lens.

But, why isn't everything cultural? How do we decide what's cultural and what's not? I don't know, but I think it's something we should all consider as we decide what we believe and why we believe it.

And, just in case you're still wondering about the kinds of passages that have me thinking about these issues, I leave you with Deuteronomy 25:11:

"If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity."

Uh, was this a common problem? Do we need a law for everything?

Rules, rules, and more rules

Day 37: Deuteronomy 16-20

God wants us to obey him. He wants us to follow his rules, his commands. He wants us to do the right thing. As I've gotten older, however, the right thing doesn't always appear so clearly to me. While God's rules and laws still persist today, on many issues he doesn't say anything, so it's left us to up to interpret morality, ethics, the right thing. We must look at the Bible and make choices about what kinds of behaviors and attitudes God wants us to have.

The Jews, though, don't seem to have such leeway. Every single thing was written out, handed down by God for the Israelites to obey. The reading today seems full of rules, rules that I don't always understand, and I find myself having to, once again, stand back from the rules themselves and look more towards what God is doing.

Here, it seems as if God is teaching his people how to live. He's not just giving them commands and rules so that he can punish them when they don't follow them. Instead, God seems to be showing his people how he expects them to live, how he expects a follower of Yahweh to live, act, and behave. That's what God is doing.

It's not about right and wrong for the sake of right and wrong. Instead, the rules are there as a code of living as a follower of the Lord. God wants them to keep his commands; he wants us to keep his commands. But he wants this not because of himself (although he is definitely worthy of it); he wants this for us. Following his rules, laws, and commands is better for us, and it will allow us to live the life he envisions for us to live.

So even if his commands and laws aren't so crystal clear to us at times, if we know God, we can better follow them when we aren't so sure about the right thing to do.

The Day of Atonement Awaits You!

Day 24: Leviticus 16-22

I am not feeling well today. I hope I'm not coming down with the flu. I say this because today is a day when I don't want to read the Bible or blog about my thoughts. My mind isn't working well, and I just want to lie in bed and watch TV. But I've committted to doing this every day. And that's the only thing that's keeping me going.

There are a lot of dos and don'ts (A LOT!). In this passage, God sets morality standards for the Israelites, standards regarding sex, mating, neighbors, attitudes, behaviors, and sacrifices. It's easy to get distracted by all the rules (how did anyone follow all of them?!!), so, once again, I'll ask, what does this passage say about God? The answer to me lies once again in the word holy. God is holy and he wants us to be holy was well. This is why he's laying down these rules. He's giving the Israelites standards to live by.

God does something really amazing here, though. In the midst of all these rules and commandments, God includes a chapter--chapter 16--on "The Day of Atonement." I have heard of the Day of Atonement before (it's the Jewish holiday known as Yom Kippur, Hebrew for "Day of Atonement"), but I didn't know what it was until I read this chapter. Basically, as I understand it, the Day of Atonement is a day that happens once a year in which God forgave the sins of the Israelites. The day itself is a day of rest where the Israelites were to fast from food ("deny themselves") and be cleansed from all their sins when they approached the Lord.

I wonder if any Christians celebrate this holiday. I'm sure there are some, but I'd like to know why they do it and how they do it. I've become more and more interested in the Christian calendar, and this is one holiday that I'd be interested in knowing more about. Any of you readers out there celebrate this one? It was a few days ago on September 28 (I just missed it corresponding to the reading!).

I think it's cool that in spite of all the laws that God gives the people, he still allows for the Israelites to be free from sins. He still offers salvation to them. In their case, he saves them from death. The Day of Atonement allows them to be free. In spite of all the sins they might commit, the Day of Atonement awaits them. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty

Day 23: Leviticus 12-15

As I was reading Leviticus tonight, I was struck by how much of these laws have to do with cleanliness--cleanliness in how your home looks, what you wear, what you eat, and what should happen if/when you become ill. It seems to me that these rules and restrictions serve more symbolic purposes now. To them, they were rules for how to live a life--rules for how to be more clean, pure, and holy in the presence of God. For us today, they seem more like a metaphor for holiness. How God views being holy as an essential part of who we are.

I don't think our culture emphasize holiness too much. It emphasizes a lot of things, but holiness is not one of them.

So one way we as Christians can differentiate our Christian selves from our American selves is by being holy. God obviously values holiness: He is holy, and He wants us to be, too. We should strive for holiness--being clean, pure, and righteous. Differentiating ourselves from others. Imitating God.

God's covenant with Israel

Day 19: Day 22 to 30

Laws and laws.

Rules and rules.

Do this. Don’t do this.

The reading for today seems like a bunch of “dos” and “don’ts,” and it’s easy to get bogged down in all the details; trying to do learn all the commands that God gives to Moses on the mountain, commands that Moses then takes to the Israelites. There are a lot of them, and they are very detailed and specific.

But it’s not just about that, I don’t think. First, these laws seem a bit outdated to me. We don’t have tabernacles; nor do we need to know how to make them.

The denomination of which I’m a part doesn’t even have priests, so the talk about the vestments and such isn’t really relevant either.

But what is relevant is the covenant.

God makes a covenant with Israel, and Israel makes a covenant with God. It’s almost like they are making vows with each other. God promises to do things for God, and the Israelites covenant to do things for Him.

Covenant. A promise.

A promise to be holy. A promise to provide.

What promises have I made in my life? Have I kept them? Have I held my word?

I can think of two main vows I have made. One was to God on the day I dedicated my life to being a Christian and was baptized, dying to myself and vowing to live for God. I still live by this vow to God. It’s a covenant I keep. But I also know that I sin—daily.

The other vows were to my husband on the day I married him. Those vows were and still are extremely important to me, but I don’t think I read them enough to remember what I promised to him. He sure puts up with a lot. Although I have kept my vows in the grand sense, I know there are days when I haven’t kept them at the more local level. Just like I’ve messed up with God, I’ve messed up with Shane.

So if I’ve messed up, does it mean that I’ve broken the covenant? Yes it does.

But that’s where God’s grace comes in. That’s where the blood of Jesus comes in to save me. Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross allows me to keep my covenants even though I break them. It allows me to renew my covenant with God and my husband and my children and others. This part of the Bible, though, is important in showing me what covenant is about.

America, America

Day 18: Exodus 18 to 21

In the reading for today, God continues to develop his relationship with Moses. Moses and God seem to be pretty tight, particularly because Moses obeys God and fears him. They have several conversations and Moses functions as the go-between between God and Israel. In a way, Moses foreshadows Jesus. Although Moses is by no means Jesus, Moses serves some of the same function as Jesus does, particularly in terms of speaking to the people.

I really admire Moses. He seems like a great guy who lives his life trying to do the right thing. He’s also the one that God entrusted to take His laws to the Israelite people, laws which included the Ten Commandments.

As I was reading the Ten Commandments tonight, I was struck by how these laws don’t seem so much like “God’s laws” per se as they do laws of human nature, natural laws. It seems that these laws make our world better, no matter in what religion you believe. For instance, the law of Sabbath is not so much about religious practice as it is about the need for humans to rest and reflect so we can function better and be more at one with God, ourselves, and others. In addition, when we have no other gods except the one true God, we realize what other things in our life take up the space that God should hold. These laws, if we follow them, lead us to a greater and fuller existence. One where we sacrifice ourselves for God and for others.

In the United States, we have all these debates about whether or not we should put the Ten Commandments up in our courtrooms, our schools, or our parks. Although I understand why some want to fight so that the Ten Commandments remain in these places so that we can see them and so that our society can be ruled by the, first, we must understand that these commandments are already natural law—whether they’re in government buildings or not.

For me, I don’t think it’s so important that we fight for the Ten Commandments to remain in these places. Rather, I think it’s more important for us to live our lives by following them.

Not killing.

Not coveting.

Not stealing.

Not lying.

Not having other gods.

Not making idols for ourselves.

Not committing adultery.

Not cursing God.

Honoring our parents and grandparents.

And resting and reflecting on God and His word.

If we write these laws on our hearts, we don’t need to see them in government buildings to know what they say. The true testament of our faith isn’t that we’re fighting for them to be written in print; the true testament of our faith is how we live out our lives. Do we obey God and follow the laws that He has established for us—laws that are meant to protect us and not to hurt us? Or do we focus more of our time on trying to preserve an America that probably never existed in the first place rather than truly reflecting and meditating on the laws themselves.

If we live our lives according to the laws, America might see God in us; but if we spend too much energy fighting for the preservation of the laws in our buildings, then they may never see what’s truly inside our hearts.

Regardless, God is in control.