Hey folks. Absolutely definitely going to catch up today. Yesterday i got side tracked with cooking, pubbing and role playing. None of these are particularly good excuses but I figured I'd get home earlier than I did and when I didn't I went to sleep instead of blog because I had a job interview today. Which went well I think so thank you God for at least making me do my best! Onto business then
Today's readings
Exodus 13:1-14:31
Matthew 27:45-66
Proverbs 4:20-27
So Moses today gets his instructions on how to move the Israelites out of Egypt. I think it's interesting that God chose the route which would avoid conflict, not because the Israelites would be killed but because He knew they'd get fed up and go back to Egypt. Sure enough the minute they see the Egyptians chasing them they lose all faith and have a go at Moses for freeing them from slavery. As stupid as that sounds... But I think there's an interesting parallel here with us. God's plan for our lives might take us a longer route and it might be a harder route but it's the right route and that's what we have to remember when we feel like giving up. There's a reason He wants us to do things this way.
We've then got the miracle of the parting of the sea. Now notice that although it said they were going around the Red Sea, it doesn't say that it was the Red Sea Moses parted. Recently scientists have decided that this was perfectly possible given the time frame and the weather and that it would be dry for four hours before crashing back but that it would have happened near the Nile. Well here are God's people escaping Egypt still and it takes all night for them to cross till Pharoah tries to cross in the morning. Seems to me that once again God's miracles can be true! And yes, I accept that it is physics and nature that made it happen but it's a freak occurence with a very useful result. Think of it this way, if Moses and the Israelites didn't escape Egypt then and in such a way that the Egyptians wouldn't bother following them later on then none of the rest of the Bible would have happened. Israel wouldn't have been a country, the Jewish population would have been the Egyptian slave caste and probably absorbed into their culture. Who knows how that would have changed the world. God does still perform great miracles but their consequences are huge and I believe this is one of the reasons that He chooses not to save every situation or cure every disease, because the consequences would be massive and would stop His plan.
Into the New Testament we amble and we get Jesus' last words. Chilling stuff. Jesus was about to be seperated from God for the first time in His long existence and the thought terrified Him. I think that's a big helpful pointer to why we should be pursuing a life alongside God. If this man, who was calm and without fear in front of two courts wanting to execute Him, was only afraid when He realised that God would no longer be with Him when He died then being with God is clearly a massive blessing. There's loads that can be said about the Temple curtain and the Centurion's words but largely, Jesus' death shows us that we need to remember to focus on God and gain that closeness with Him and that God wants to reach out to us too and not hide behind a curtain or limit Himself to a certain type of person.
Finally we get a bit of Proverbs and here Solomon is telling us the importance of keeping focused on God's word and not being distracted by opinion or gossip, only focus on the truth. We know the truth of love and salvation is the key to our faith and what we should allow to shape our lives. The challenge is to then ignore the rest that seems to add flavour but actually masks the truth.
And that's your lot for today. Well apart from the one I'm posting this evening when I get back from a planning meeting. Yesterday's song is here and is bloomin brilliant. Oh and enjoy the wrestling vid that goes with it! Questions, criticisms and comments welcome as always
Jon
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