OT Thoughts

Well, I've been slowly trucking through reading the entire Word. I feel like the tortiose- I know it isn't a race, but the goal was to read It through and one day I will achieve! Haha. My plan of action was to have my list of all the books and all the chapters in front of me and tick them off as I read them. (Something in me rebels against the normal structures of reading it through, so I am picking my own path) *I wouldn't recommend this way unless you already have a grasp on the Big Narrative and Story that is going through the entire Word.* This has taken me through a great portion of the OT, and so I wanted to share just a few thoughts I found interesting lately:

- Leviticus 23:42 (Just referencing this, haven't read the book through yet)- God commands the Israelites to live in "booths", or makeshift houses for an entire week. It is to remind them of how He delivered them from Egypt. But it just struck me as cool- God just commanded them to go camping, basically. To do without all the "modern conveniences" of their own homes. To fast (yikes) from their possessions and comfort and remember His provision and grace upon their past and implications on their future. How we all need to do this regularly as well!

- Nehemiah 9:36- This verse struck me as so profound and applicable! I am going to quote it: "Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves." Wow! How often do we do and live in the same manner. God gives us freedom, life, joy, hope, love, and blessings beyond number and we walk away. Trade it in for a big screen TV and the endless episodes we can fill our lives with. Or a car that is way bigger than we need, just so we can show our status to those around while we grind ourselves into debt with the bills and gas payments. Or how about making someone Ultimate in our hearts, lives, and decisions and they fall short cuz they are but a mere sinful human prone to mistakes. Or one I struggle with over and over: I can do it in my own strength, my plans are best, and I just need You to bless them and walk beside them. We enslave ourselves in the Promise Land and don't even see or feel it so often.

- Exodus 16 begins the journey through the wilderness to the land of Canaan. God takes Israel the long way cuz He knew their hearts weren't ready to receive the blessings He had prepared for them. He had to break them beforehand so they could see HIM in all things. They had gotten used to the "meat and fine foods" in Egypt. As they walked, they remembered that and not the bondage that accompanied those delicacies. God had better food and things in store for them, but had they walked straight into The Promised Land from Canaan, they would have thanked themselves and left God out of the equation all together. How merciful and beautiful of Him to strip them away and leave them with just Him! He knew what their hearts needed and they needed to be pruned. I think that has applied to my own life over and over again. Looking back I can see how I enslave myself with something, I cry out to Him for saving, He does, but He doesn't deliver me into blessings right away, but rather He takes me the long way through the desert to see Him more clearly. "I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You..." Job 42:5

Hope these touched your heart in just a small portion as they did mine!