No more Numbers. I am four books down and only 62 to go. Luckily, most of the rest are much shorter.
Have you ever read Numbers 33? Well, let me give you a summary. The Israelites went here, then here, then here, etc...
As I read this chapter and truly realized how much of nomads the Israelites were, I started to understand (I want to say sympathize, but I don't think that is the right word) their grumblings.
Their entire lives (even though the were terrible) were uprooted over night in Egypt. They left everything they knew. They left every comfort of their lives.
And they followed a cloud. If the cloud moved, they moved. If the cloud stayed, they stayed. The cloud moved about 40 times in the 42 years between Ramses and Jericho.
I remember reading earlier that sometimes the cloud moved in the middle of the night.
I understand the point is that it is a complete trust in God. BUT, I can't say that it wouldn't get old living in the desert as nomads waiting for the cloud to move. I understand their grumblings.
Which brings me to the question, am I willing to give it all up for God? I know the textbook answer. "Of course I am... God will just never call me to such a huge undertaking." Does that sound about right?
But seriously, am I willing to give up everything I find comfort in? My house, my job, my family, my food, my internet... anything?
What if God said "Get up! And go to some place that you don't know." Would I go? Am I too comfortable where I am? Is the fact that I consider this house that I am currently sitting in "home" a bad thing?
I pray that I do not become complacent. I pray that I do not become comfortable with this life.
As I am reading through the Bible, God is continually showing me myself. Every time I read about the Hebrews and their trek to the Promised Land they mess up. Over and over and over.
I laugh at them. Then, I realize I am them. I am no different.
Every time God says "follow me," I say "but." But this... but that... but I like where I am... but that is hard... but someone else will do it... but I don't wanna.
Does anyone else find the Bible to be convicting? Please pray for me. I need prayer. This whole sanctification thing is hard.
Tomorrow I am reading Deuteronomy 1-17. I am going to read through Deuteronomy in 2 days. Hopefully, that will start some momentum for a string of books being read through in a single day.
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hi brent... this 90 day thing is killing me... i mean i love it but i am so behind!! :-P oh well I suppose if I do it in 92 or 93 days God won't think any less of me... or will He?
ReplyDeletei can't laugh at the israelites at all anymore... somehow i can just see myself there with them, watching the ground open and people get eaten up alive and going, "AHH we're going to die!!!" maybe if God still did that today, we wouldn't sin so much! :-P
p.s. Bible.com is my friend. is that legal??? somehow seeing it in a bigger print and scrolling down as i go along helps me read faster. or maybe it's just the fact i struggle with pulling myself away from my computer!
Tiffany, I think 90 days is a nice goal, but not the one to get hung up on. If it takes you a 100 or a year, just read everyday and finish. It's the Word that counts, not the time limit. And I read it a lot on Bible Gateway.com on my computer. With my eyesight, it is easier. It's the Word, not the media. Think if we had to read it on big stone tablets!
ReplyDeleteHey Brent, remember the Israelites got to the border of the Promise Land in a couple years, got cold feet about crossing the Jordan cause of the big bad people over there and that's why they had to wander the next 40 years, until all the adults died. Those people refused God's gift of the Promise Land and they died without ever getting into the land of Milk and Honey, died in the wilderness. Sound familiar?
I refused to believe what the Gospel said for nearly that long, 35 years I wandered in the wilderness before becoming a Christian. I am so thankful God didn't allow me to die in that wilderness.
And yes, I'm finding this convicting and will pray for you.
Larry