My Shield

Today’s reading is Samuel 15, Psalm 3, Psalm 69, and John 4:27-54.

I took a look at Psalm 3 and there was something simple and neat for me here.

I like that the writer seems to be in distress. He’s telling the situation like it is and life isn’t rosy. We all have times when we can relate to this type of mindset. Misery loves company (or should it be company loves misery). I hate having a life situation where I feel like the world is out to get me and even more so that I have the feeling that everyone thinks I deserve my horrible situation.

What I simply admire of the author is that he sleeps and gets up in the morning. When everything has really hit the fan, it’s hard to sleep. Anxiety and stress keep you awake thinking way into the late hours until morning. Not this guy. He knows that God is going to sustain him. What is sustain you ask? Well… I asked anyways. According to dictionary.com, “sustain” means to support, hold, or bear up from below. The author is in complete belief that God is holding him up. He can make himself vulnerable enough to go to sleep because he knows that when he gets out of bed in the morning that God will still be supporting him as He does every minute of our lives.

I find that somewhat encouraging but also challenging. I’m not there yet. I can’t stare a torch and pitchfork crowd in the face and declare that they won’t keep me up at night.

What are your thoughts? How do you allow God’s sustaining character to be your strength? Do you know when you have arrived at that point?

Why Aren’t You Afraid?

Today’s reading is 2 Samuel 1-2 and Luke 24:36-53.

The 2 Samuel reading is one of those times that I don’t quite get God. It’s kind of like when I’m talking to one of my friends of a differing religious belief and they throw pain in suffering in my face. “If your God really existed, why is there pain and suffering in the world?” For all my Christian friends right now let me stop your thought process as you are quickly accessing brain apologetics files on how to answer such a question. I understand that there is hope in life after death and the troubles of this world are not the end for the Christian. Thus, essentially, life’s problems are solved through Christ as we transition from this imperfect world to Heaven. However, it would be so much easier to deal with this question if there just wasn’t the issues to begin with

Let’s go on to 2 Samuel when David hears from the Amalekites gentleman that King Saul is dead. It would seem that this guy did a great service to David. He escaped the Israelite camp and sought out David, who by the way was destroying the Amalekites, to give him the news and proof of Saul and Jonathan’s demise. When I read this through I’m thinking David needs to get this guy some proper room service. Let’s get him some steak and veggies. Let’s fix up the fanciest bedroom with the nicest bed. Let’s get this guy some nice clothes. It would seem that David is even distraught over the news of the deaths. Jonathan was a dear close friend to David so the heartache is quite understandable. The Amalekite even seems heroic when he declares that he killed Saul (per Saul’s request). He was basically putting Saul out of his misery so that the king would not have a prolonged suffering.

However, everything changes after David and his men are able to grieve for a brief period. I can almost see David in the middle of his grieving come to a realization. A light goes off in his head. The messenger before him has killed God’s anointed. I did some checking in my online Bible dictionary. The word “anointed” is used when speaking about a person whom God has specifically set apart to do His work. The anointed man of God was responsible for Israel and held accountable to God for his actions. No man was to harm the anointed man of God’s appointing whom was chosen specifically by God to go about God’s chosen actions. Now back to David. He has just come to an epiphany that the Amalekite has killed God’s anointed ruler. The situation now is no longer a mercy killing – it’s a crime. David wants to know why the man was not scared to his very being to even lift his hand against a man that God considered of great significance. Unfortunately, for the Amalekite he is killed on the spot for his crime.

My thoughts during this reading lend themselves to my thoughts and emotions toward people in the ministry today. I recently went to a church planters conference and one whole day was spent on men speaking about moral failures that could occur in the church. They spoke in order to safeguard others from their failings or near failings. I got a sense though from many of these men that they were dynamic men that anyone of any faith would love to learn from their knowledge. Many of them were cherished and greatly respected by hundreds in their communities (again both spiritual and secular). It would not be hard to state that God had anointed these men. However, when these men fail, what is our reaction as a Christian community? Do we gossip? Do we tear them apart (verbally)? Do we drag their names through the mud? This passages from 2 Samuel really beckons me to look at any man of God with fearful respect. Afterall, King Saul was far from a perfect man but still David rightfully revered him as God’s chosen instrument.

I wonder what you think. What would our Christian communities look like today if we looked upon our leaders (even in their great times of failure) as anointed by God?

Don’t Get Caught In Between

Today’s reading is 1 Samuel 4-6 and Luke 18:1-23.

People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. “Let these children alone. Don’t get between them and me. These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.”   – Luke 18:15-17

I love being a dad. It is a hoot and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. However, there are the times when you wish you had a double and your copy could take over for a bit. I remember one instance where my youngest son was having a difficult day. Well, I say difficult not because he wasn’t having fun but his actions weren’t giving me any rest. I actually think I’m reaping what I sowed in childhood because I loved, LOVED to pester my sister. I was king little annoyances. I would stand as close to her room as I could when I was told not to enter. I speak nonsense to her while she was attempting to speak to friends on the phone. I did the imfamous, “I’m not touching you. You can’t get mad.” dance while my pointer finger came within millimeters of her forehead. I’m surprised that she grew up to be such a patient person and that she doesn’t have a nervous tick.

One particular day my youngest son was tormenting the living daylights out of his older siblings as they sat on our comfy couches in the living room. The older children just wanted to loose themselves in Saturday morning cartoons before mom and I demanded that chores be completed for the day. The little guy went first to his oldest brother and banged his head on his lap. STOP IT. The tiny tot then went to his sister and jumped into her lap. GET OFF OF ME. The last round found him getting in front of his middle brother and yelling as loud as he could into his brother’s ear. CUT IT OUT. He took the time to giggle between each persuit and made the rounds again. Eventually, dad’s ears could no longer take the loud cries of the tormented siblings. I marched with purpose into our living room and demanded audience with  my smallest child. Everything had been rainbows for him that morning that my voice caught him off gaurd. He suddently almost appeared to come to his senses and replay his actions in his head. He sulked over to me and listened to my lecture. Before long hysterical tears were streaming down him face. The neat part of the situation is that he wanted me, the discipliner, to comfort him. He held out his arms and through sobs asked for a hug.

In this verse that I spent time on for the day I see Jesus a lot in this situation. My son trusts me enough that even though he is in trouble, even though I’m yelling at him, he still trusts me so much that I’m still a source of comfort for him. Can you imagine how in love we would be with Jesus if we would simply recognize Him as the protector, provider, and lover of our whole being? I wish I could say that when God is disciplining me that I could turn right to Him with my arms held out and say “I’m sorry. Can you hold me now daddy?”

Another part to this equation that I cant’ help ponder over are children that have been damaged in their home life. These are kids that have had to go through trauma and grow up too quickly. There are many ways that foster/adoptive children have lost their simple faith because adults have taken away their innocence. For example my adopted daughter was malnurished from birth to around age three. The adults didn’t find food for her. She was responsible for scouting her environment for food. Thus, rusty bed springs, animal feces, and make-up became snacks for her. This broke her trust in adults. The ones that were supposed to be worrying about her survival and taking care of her were not. In her mind she had to take control of the stearing wheel. Even in our home where she knows where the refrigerator and cabinets stocked with food are, she still doesn’t quite trust that the adults are going to look out for her. I will say that she is healing and the situation is getting much better. We don’t have to lock up my wife’s make-up as often as we did and we trust that she will make mud pies without eating them. However, it is sad that this idea of simple faith that Jesus was prizing so much could be damaged.

How does that translate into the spiritual world? I think of a person that so much wants to believe in something but they see Christians debating or gossiping with each other on facebook. They see good people, Christian people posting horrible and critical comments on a website about people groups that tend carry stigmas against them in the church. They see Christians gather together on Sunday morning with the same friends they have always had and they don’t venture our to accept someone new into their group. These people are single moms, couples whose marriages are on the rocks, people that suffer with depression, at risk children – their ability to have simple trust is hurt by life but sometimes also by the church. My adopted daughter is healing. With stability and unconditional love many things are possible. How would Christ as that the church heal people? How accepting are you of other individuals?  Where do we go from here?

Whatever Makes You Feel Good

The reading for today is Judges 9-10 and Luke 14:1-24.

All of my four children were adopted as of February and we intend to celebrate this monumental occasion later in September. Why are we waiting that long? Well, there are many reasons. The end of September the birthday month for two of my children. My mother is retiring at the end of September (giving her and dad a good excuse to join in the festivities) and September is an off season for many tourist traps.

Now the ideal celebration for our family would have been to vacation in Europe. My wife and I think it is important for a person to be oversees at least once in their life to get exposed to a different culture. Also, I still have family that lives in Germany and it would be neat for my kids to see where my ancestors came from. However, the idea of this sort of trip, while exciting, would land us declaring bankruptcy. The plane tickets alone for six people would be outrageous. Therefore, we have decided to take the kids on a trip to Orlando, Florida. We figure that it will be exciting to see their faces when they see the ocean for the first time. My super intelligent wife has figured out how we could budget for this trip starting a year ago. It will more than likely be the largest vacation we will ever take with our kids but it’s celebrating a huge landmark. Thus you can see that there were many options to weigh and many nickels and pennies to consider.

Can you imagine how horrible it would be attempt this sort of celebration without planning out the cost of the trip? Imagine driving all the way to the destination only to discover that the price of gas had eaten up all you cash. Think about seeing your kids’ delighted faces as they see all the sights right in front of them only to have to tell them that you were turning right around and going home. There would be a lot of tears and a few tempers.

In Luke 14 Jesus asks His followers to think about how much it was going to cost to follow Him. I believe this is a unique thought to our culture from the get go. We are so used to doing what will make us feel good or simply what we want to. Our culture doesn’t ask us to consider the negative but only think about happiness. However from what I’m understanding of this reading is that Christ is telling us that we are going to have to give up everything including our own lives to follow Him. That means that there will be pain. I remember a gal that attended church in South Korea with my wife and I. Her whole family refused to accept her any longer because of her confession of faith. She wasn’t welcome at the family gatherings or even spoken to. Wow. That’s painful and at the samet time that is powerful faith in Christ.

I think for those of us that are Christians we need to pause and wonder how serious our faith in Christ is. Do we merely hold onto our faith to ward off anything sad or unhappy? For those that are not of the Christian faith I believe you must wonder why someone would be so dedicated to such a faith.

Could You Repeat That Please

Today’s reading: Deuteronomy 28-29; Luke 7:31-50

People that know me today find it hard to believe that I was a fat kid. It’s true. I remember mom buying my jeans at JC Penney. This wasn’t for the bargain buy but because it had a “husky” section. Now during my childhood I enjoyed playing soccer on a team for many years right up until my high school career. There were many things that I did and do love about the game of soccer. However, one thing that this fat kid didn’t like was large amounts of running that were involved. I was already made fun of enough in grade school without having the added benefit of the skinny kids to make fun of my running.

I actually find it humorous in the present time that I have taken up running marathons as a hobby. What I used to hate with every member of my being I now do as a source of recreation. The fact of the matter though is that there is still pain and a little suffering involved with this hobby. If I want to run 26 miles or even 13 miles I have to get my body trained to endure that sort of stress on it. There is just no way that I’ve found to be able to take part in this event (but please let me know if there is an easier way). There has to be some misery to get to success.

In the reading of Deuteronomy 28 I was enjoying all the benefits that would befall the Israelites if they followed the commands of God to the fullest. I mean, who wouldn’t love to hear all these great things? You’re going to have a large family along with a booming agricultural and livestock business. You’re going to have more than enough food to support you and your family. You’re going to do well whether you’re around your grand estate or traveling abroad. You’re enemies are going to attack you… wait… I mean you’re enemies are going to attack you… no, I read it correctly. Verses 7 & 9 of chapter 28 deal with God conquering Israel’s enemies when they attack them.

Even as I’m rereading that passage again to make sure I’m understanding it correctly, I am picking out that “bad things” are inescapable. No matter what there is going to be some sort of misery in this world – it’s a consequence of the sinful world we live in. That doesn’t mean that God is nonexistent or that He has forgotten about us. It might not even mean that God is disciplining you. It does mean that we must continue to place our faith/trust that God is in control. We must remain hopeful that God work overall for our good, which is reaching more and more the potential He placed inside of us.

I must ask after concerning myself with all the problems of my life. How is my faith in God affecting my life?

Always On My Mind?

There is an issue that is struggled with constantly in Christian visual artist circles. At least I came to meet this dilemma many times in conversations with fellow schoolmates in university. The issue has to do with a conversation in one’s mind. How much credit can I take for my work?

Oil Painting, God Speaking With Joshua

Let me explain with a personal remembrance of a painting that I created for a painting course. I believe I was in 400 level painting class. This may mean nothing to you other than I was well past the basics, was allowed to experiment with my personal style, and was critiqued more on how to turn out “better” art and less on basics (such as how to hold a brush). I remember working over one painting late at night in the classroom studios. It was a still night and I happened to have the studio all to myself. These were wonderful nights when I could set my music the way I wished and sing without being embarrassed. I was working on a canvas that was approximately four foot by five foot. I tend to paint abstract expressionistic figures. Again, all this information need tell you is that in order to express feeling and emotion on such a large canvas I had to work my arm and body to paint. On a large canvas in this style one cannot merely move the wrist. The atmosphere was set. I had recently been studying the book of Joshua in my quiet times and with the atmosphere of the Christian music and no one to talk to me but God I began to receive a picture of God’s relationship to Joshua. I saw Joshua as a youth and not a mighty man of God. He was but a child that was being asked to take over for God’s previous leader Moses. Like a great and nurturing father God brought Joshua to Himself and told him to be strong and courageous in his future endeavors. I saw God not only nurturing but pointing Joshua to his destiny as a parent coaxes a frightened child to go down a park slide. As I moved paint around the canvas, God showed me how I’m like Joshua.

Before we get off on a tangent dealing with Joshua, let me say that the painting was very much a success. I ended up with a colorful work that expressed the fear of Joshua and the fatherly nature of God. My professor and classmates loved it in our critique time and I was overjoyed that I barely had to defend my work and process to get top marks. Now here is where the dilemma of my fellow Christians comes into play. How much credit do I take for my work and how much honor do I devote to God? I had some classmates and refused to take any credit for any artistic piece that came from their hands. I had others that beg I take all the credit because indirectly it honored God. I personally like to think that there isn’t a definite answer to this question so that this issue is something that MUST be revisited constantly to be sure that God isn’t driven out of the equation. It is a fluid event that one continuely needs to ask: Do I remember where my talent comes from?

In Deuteronomy 8 the Israelites are being told that there wandering in the desert was to prepare them for the good times ahead. I can remember that in the garden of Eden humanity had the problem of forgetting God’s rightful place when they had things good. God was bumped to a lower part of the equation. Later on in history God delivers His people from slavery in Egypt. He gives them signs and wonders so that they would not forget Him. The Israelites were forced through life to make sure God was given the due respect He deserved. Before Moses went up Mt. Sinai to get the ten commandments the people heard the booming voice of God and feared Him. However, later they disregarded God when they built an idol to worship. Now the Israelites are wandering in the desert. They are being reminded of the food and water that had been miraculously given to them. They had to endure poisonous snakes and scorpions. They had to trust God lead them day by day through the fierce conditions of the desert. We are told in chapter 8 that this was a test so that they wouldn’t again drop God out of the equation when they finally arrived to the promised land. From what I’m reading about the promised land it would be easy to forget God. I mean they’re going to a place where they will always have a roof over their heads (no more of the nomad life – woo hoo) and they would always have a good meal. Also, there is the promise of precious metals. Basically, all of their basic needs will always be met and some. They would never have to worry about a thing. Interestingly that sounds similar to the Garden of Eden too and I’m living how that turned out. It’s really no wonder that the Israelites are given a warning that they must not forget that God is giving them the strength that they will use to cultivate this future life. The consequence for their forgetfulness is simple – destruction. The same folly that would befall the enemies of God would also come upon them.

The key lesson that I’m seeing here is that there is folly in being full of myself and forgetting where my strength comes from. In the competitive and busy world that I live in it is easy for me to rely on my own strength. I have food to eat and a roof over my head. It can be easy for my to think that I’m the master artist that provides and creates.
Where in my life is there the need to recognize God’s provision? What do I need to offer Him thanks for? How do I show Him my gratitude?

Down On The Farm

Have you ever looked into your childhood and cherished an event that as a child you took for granted? For example there are many times that I spent on my grandparents’ farm that were exciting for me. I remember going for long walks in fields along creeks. I remember taking the time to pause and skip rocks or even wade through the water. I had fun climbing hay bails in the pastures on a warm spring day. I can recall jumping from bail to bail with my cousins as we had races or played an altered version of King of the Hill.

The times that I took for granted were the moments that I spent the night with my grandparents at their home. In the morning I always awoke to the sound of the rooster crowing. That sound signaled me that it was time to start shaking off my sleepiness and head from my second floor guest bed to the main floor kitchen. Grandma was usually making something mouth-watering like bacon and eggs with fresh marmalade for toast. I liked to help set the table and get the large jar of milk from the refrigerator. The milk was fresh from the cow and I remember how that milk tasted distinctly different from our store-bought milk from my house. And speaking of different tastes, let’s talk about the butter for the toast. Real butter that was churned at the farmhouse. My sister and I were never morning people so conversation around the breakfast table was slim. However, I remember that we would pray and begin eating after grandpa came back from his morning chores. After grandma finished eating, she would take out her Bible and daily devotional book. This is the part that was taken for granted. As a kid you hoped that the adult talk would get over with quickly so that you could get outside and play before the sun decided to go down. I didn’t realize at the time that I was witnessing grandma and grandpa’s faith at work. They had lived through many trial and situations in life and through inspection of the scriptures and trials of life they found that the account of Christ to be real. Time with God in the morning was not an option for these two believers.

Later in life I was reminded to take into account their faith as I witnessed my grandfather in a nursing home. Grandpa had been in an auto accident with a semi which left his right side paralyzed. Grandma in her older age was not able to care for him and sorrowfully was forced to put him in the nursing home. The moment that I saw was their evening ritual. Grandma never missed a beat to visit grandpa in the evening so that they could pray together. They asked for privacy during this time. The rest of the family would wait outside in the hallway while you could hear mumbled prayers being said to God. If you denied that the mumbling was a need for privacy between two saints still in love or just chit-chat, there was no mistaking the next part of the nightly ritual. As clear as day one could hear the reciting of the Lord’s prayer in the hallway.

At the beginning of our reading in Luke today the author, Luke, is setting up his written work for his friend Theophilus. Luke’s account of the life of Christ is unique because it isn’t created by a person that actually witnessed the events of Christ’s life. Instead Luke carefully examined the stories and writings of eyewitnesses to put together his gospel. What was the purpose of his laborious research? Luke wants his friend to know beyond all doubt that Christ was the Savior. Theophilus needed to know that what he was being taught about Christ was reliable.

The thrilling idea to me at this moment is that I too have eyewitness accounts that have been recorded and preserved through the Holy Spirit inside the Scriptures. It is great to realize that the feeding of the five thousand was witnessed by men, recorded in the Bible, and given to me to help my faith that Christ is the Lord. I didn’t receive a letter directly from Luke but I have lived my life beside friends, grandparents, parents, and others that have searched the Bible and other types of thought to find that the teachings of the Bible are truth.

The pondering that this short introduction builds in me is wondering if others see this excitement that I have from my faith. Do people see my faith as real or as a ritual that I must perform weekly? Will my children look back on their childhood and be proud of their father that strove to walk out his faith? Is my life showing signs of my faith in Christ or is it merely showing signs of what TV shows I enjoy watching?

Looking for work

Today’s reading is Numbers 7-8 and Mark 13:21-37.

My university career was phenomenal for me. It is during those four years that I learned a lot about being an artist, how to communicate more effectively with diverse groups of people, met my future wife, and really got passionate about my relationship with God. The campus group known as Campus Crusade for Christ had a great impact on my relationship with God.
Through this group I was challenged in many aspects of thinking in my life. One issue being how much to let God take control of my career choice. I remember this because it became quite the controversy at a conference I attended. Now, let me stop here to give you some insight to the situation. I was a senior at Illinois State University. In a para-church organization such as Crusade there tends to be a greenhouse effect that is built as many students, who are passionately and energetically (sometimes almost competitively)spend a great amount of time together and seeking to become more like Christ. Also, there is a great deal of respect for the full-time staff persons that run the organization. The staff are Godly men and women striving to seek God’s will for their life and spread the Gospel on college campuses. They were our heroes. Thus, when you are approached to attend a conference setup especially for juniors and seniors you are thrilled on two counts. One, a conference meant getting away from a “busy” campus schedule and dedicating a weekend of focuses time with God. Two, someone who I highly respected asked me to attend and that kind of invitation means a great deal.
The conference was neat. There was great worship music and talented speakers. Many of the speakers focused on life after university. This tended to lead to talks about working in some capacity with Campus Crusade. There were job fairs setup in the hallways. Interviews being performed.
The controversy came to play with the disgruntled students that did not want to work in a full-time ministry setting. The conference was seen as a scam to get people to work for the organization through guilt trips and misuse of scriptures. I will have to say that many students did tend to idolize working with Crusade (that’s what our heroes did) so I can understand how the undertone of lessening other careers could be felt at the event. However, overall, I came away from the conference with a sense of more options for the future. I would be invited to several more job fairs that did not represent any full-time ministry positions. I concluded that other careers were fighting for my attention through seminars and job fairs so why shouldn’t a full-time ministry have a chance to get our attention.

In Numbers 8 the Levites are being taken through a ritual process and being set aside strictly for the work of The Tent of Meeting. In fact God said that he was taking the Levites as chosen among the chosen to do the work of the ministry. Not only did God command this be done but he wanted the people to lay hands on the Levites. Now the Israelites had to lay hands on their sin offering/sacrifice as a sign that their sin was being transferred from themselves to the animal to be killed. In this case the people were showing God that the work and service around the temple was being transferred from all the people to the Levites. Thus, all the people were acknowledging the importance of the work of these people. Now these guys could have been doing more “important” work. They could have been farmers. They could’ve been tending cattle. Instead they found their days busy with setting up or tearing down the Tent of Meeting. When the tent was up, they sang songs, performed sacrifices for the people, said prayers, etc. However, God deemed it right and worthy that they take care of the place where He met with the people.
I think that’s where I get mixed up here. The God of the universe met with the people. The author of life came down among unworthy and sinful people in a specific place. The worker of miracles can use a secretary to share the gospel with her boss. The God that knows all my troubles can use my pastor to spur the congregation on to great things. If God is amongst the job, it’s significant.

What do I know of holy?

Today’s reading is Leviticus 21-22 and Mark 10:1-31

Family gatherings at my grandma and grandpa’s house was always a great experience. I had several cousins around my age. Even though we lived far apart, we all seemed to have the knack of picking up where we last left off at these dinners. Easter dinners were a great deal of fun because not only were there the promise of an egg hunt and card games but there was sure to be a great meal with an abundance of homemade fancies. The problem with having so many people in a small rural house was that the creation of a “kid” table was inevitable. Our parents would usher us through a makeshift lineup of food before they place all the pretty dishes of food on the “adult” table. The kiddos were made to sit in the basement to eat our food and wait for the adults to have their fill of conversation and food before we could re-emerge to get our little mitts on dessert. It was easy to idolize the adult table while being in the basement. As much fun as us kids had, we still heard the uproarious laughter coming from the upstairs. We knew that our parents were enjoying the fine china. We knew that in between laughter they were undoubtedly speaking of important things that allowed the world to continue spinning on its axis.The great table exuded power. The adults controlled when the dessert could be served. They controlled when children could be allowed second helpings of food. They even (at times) when we would be allowed to get up from the table to resume our play. Everyone once in a while a cousin would ask to sit at the table only to get denied. We were either too young or there simply wasn’t enough room. There was definite separation – not of love or respect but of honor.

Fully grown I see things with a little more perspective. The dining room table on the first floor wasn’t in a whole lot better shape than our “kid” table. The chairs were worn as was the tablecloth. While the china was beautiful, there was nothing exceptional about it. The conversation was not of a better quality. Hindsight has taught me that it was usually full of either jokes or heavy family topics that couldn’t be discussed in front of children. The topics didn’t keep the world turning. They did little more than help our parents grieve and cope with frustrations together. However, there was still a scenario that was presented that the adults were given the place of honor during the meal. As children, we aspired to be like our parents. We wanted to be more like them for many reasons but also because we wanted that place of honor.

In our Leviticus reading the word “holy” is used seventeen times. I notice that each time it is used God is primarily describing himself or a characteristic of something as a result of His person. What do I get from that? God considers Himself and His ways to be perfect and righteous.

I think it’s easy to browse through Leviticus 21-22 and be knocked out by the tedious rules that were given to the people. It’s easy to immediately decide which rules in our eyes are fair or ridiculous. What is the idea behind the rules? God is holy.

I’m looking at Leviticus 22:17-31.If I paraphrase this section, it is about God demanding the best. Why? He is holy.

Leviticus 22:1-16. Again if I were to paraphrase this section, only a select few that are in God’s service are allowed to eat from the offerings made to the Lord. Why? God is holy and therefore the offerings made according to His ways are holy.

Everything that flows from these two chapters is written with practices to remind the Israelite that they serve a God of power, of perfection, of honor. The daily life of the Israelite was set to look at the adult table of their God. Their/Our God is not satisfied with thinking that He is the God of the kid table. However, looking at the person of Christ with Lent coming up we are also reminded that the God of the adult table was not above sitting at the kid table. He is the Lord who makes us holy.

The thoughts I’m left with today are:
1) What actions do I perform daily to show that my God is holy?
2) How do I aspire to be like Christ?
3) What am I doing in my life that is “good” but not my “best” for God?

Needing a Good Set of Wheels

Today’s reading is Leviticus 11-12 and Mark 7:1-13.

My wife had an unusual childhood. You see her dad was born with several heart defects of which only a couple were known about while he was alive. Her father shouldn’t have lived past age six, but by the grace of God, he was able to grow up and start a family. The defects got the best of him and even a heart transplant couldn’t remedy the situation. Thus, at the age of eleven my wife had to figure out how to live in a family without dad. Finances were obviously a major issue in a new single parent household that had outrageous amounts of hospital bills. My mother-in-law worked three jobs just to keep food on the table and keep the lights on in the house. As a preteen and teenager, there are certain articles that are needed to maintain a “cool” status in high school. One needs to have clothes, the right shoes for track and cross-country, and a hair crimper (did I mention that she was in high school during the nineties). Obviously, these things were not going to be obtained by begging mom. I mean come on. With three jobs mom did good to make it home to sleep a couple of hours. So the natural choice for my wife was to march straight into a government building and demand her fair share of welfare to get what she needed, right? No. Sorry. My wife’s family is no stranger to hard work (need I cite once again that her mom worked around the clock at numerous jobs). What does one need to get a minimum wage job when you live in a rural community? Well, politeness, smarts, and transportation.

Here’s where the path is blocked. You see the death of my wife’s father allowed the household to attain a small amount of survivor’s benefits. However, if she were to get a car to get work, she would need a job, and if she got a job, the survivor’s benefits would cease (don’t ask me why I still don’t understand it all). Consequently, this left the family in a catch 22 situation. There was no way that a vehicle would benefit the family when the government monies were being used to sustain life. The job my wife would have gotten would have given her the resources needed to get her things that the other teens had in her class. Clothes. accessories. extracurriculars.

I know that many of us can look at that situation and think that life is full of disappointments and you need to simply be happy with your health and family. I still find a sadness that someone with the energy and committment to work was not allowed to pursue their dreams. It seems as though that the rules that were setup were working against her.

Looking at Leviticus 11 & 12 you may be overwhelmed with the laws and details there within. I know I was. There was something that caught my eye though. When a mother gave birth to a child they were to make two sacrifices. A sin sacrifice and a burned offering. Generally speaking the sin sacrifice was made to pay the price of the sins of an individual for a whole year. Aren’t you glad that we simply have to believe on Jesus instead of slaughtering a bull every year? Now the sin sacrifice for this situation called for either a dove or a pigeon. This was something that had to be done by everyone across the board. If you had a baby, you had to produce one of these feathered friends. Now the other sacrifice was the burned offering and according to the commentary I read this was the “Thank You God” offering. It was the joyful offering because you were given the gift of a child. Even though this offering was giving thanks to God, it was still a command that it MUST be offered after the birth of a child. A year old lamb was the normal requirement for this sacrifice. However, as we read later in chapter 12, we see that provisions are made for a dove or pigeon to be used in the lambs place should the parents not be able to afford a lamb. In fact I was interested to see in the gospel of Luke that Mary and Joseph had to offer a pigeon as the burned sacrifice when Jesus was born because they were a poor family.

What does this say to me? God is a God that wants all to be involved in his loving plan of salvation. He cares and desires relationship with all of us. When God setup this command of the burned offering He knew that there would be families like my wife’s that would not be able to afford finer things. He still wanted them involved in the process of worship and relationship with Him. God allowed cheaper animals to be used in the process. This story also tells me that all have sinned because all need an atonement sacrifice when they were born. This sacrifice was the same for everyone in the world. It cost the parents little but their faith had to be their to put it into practice. God wants all in a loving relationship with Him.

An interesting thought that I’ll leave you with is this. If God has given you much or done much in your life, are you worshipping and serving him with the higher cost of a year old lamb or are y ou still giving him a pigeon?