Day 72

A new day brings a whole slew of blogs with it. Onto business then,

Today’s readings

Leviticus 26:14-27:34
Luke 1:1-25
Proverbs 7:1-5


Urgh. Leviticus is a tough start today. We get a whole lot of reasons why you probably shouldn't ignore God (and interestingly a lot of them seem to point to Soviet Russia which was a completely atheist state) and then a whole big portion on making sure that you let God have the stuff that He's entitled to. Seems pretty straight forward really. I think for me this is just a reminder to keep giving God the time in my life that He's entitled to!

Into the New Testament we go and I know I'm nearly a month behind but I'm kinda glad to be covering the start of Luke this close to Christmas! I dunno what it is about Luke but I always think he's the gospel writer that most resonates with me and seems to have that little edge over the others in terms of having more style and content than Mark, not as much style as John and not as clear an agenda as Matthew. Sure it's all the Word of God but if I had to pick just one gospel? It'd be Luke's without a second thought. I love that he starts the story of Jesus by telling us about what happened before and not like Matthew with the genealogy but with actual people living their lives. Sure Zachariah is linked to Jesus through Mary but I think it's important to remember that Jesus's message is meant for the ordinary folks. No matter who you look down on in society, and I'd be impressed if there's no one you're even a little judgemental of, God's gift of Jesus is as much for them as for any of us.

One thing I love about Zachariah that always fills me with hope is how a man so old and experienced in serving God is paralyzed with fear when God actually speaks to him. I love that God never stops being a surprise and that you can never get complacent or even so holy and righteous that you expect God. To me, God should always be a surprise visit rather than an expected presence. He's too powerful to be at our beck and call surely? You also have an understanding of why John turned out to be so... unique shall we say. His parents aren't just ancient pensioners but his dad couldn't talk for nine months so his mum decided to be pregnant without him! This five months to me is Elizabeth really praising God and doing everything she can to make sure she gives birth. I'd imagine she was a little cross at Zachariah for doubting God's word even though he knew it was God's presence there!

Finally we start a new chapter of Proverbs and it's little more than an introduction today but worth remembering that these words are designed to help us in life and not just for the ten minutes we get our Bible's out in.

And that's your lot. Onto the next one...