Bible In A Year Update 1: Genesis & Exodus
Well, I zipped through Genesis and Exodus and then ran smack up against Leviticus and have been wallowing about ever since. Leviticus will douse the fires of enthusiasm pretty quick. I wonder how many New Year's resolutions to read through the Bible have run aground at Leviticus?
Genesis & Exodus are like these big, bold, brilliant stories. Your spirit soars, your faith is edified. And then WHAM! you're slogging through the minutia of Leviticus and feeling like you never want to read the word "cubit" again.
Here's the only way I can reconcile my difficulty with Leviticus: yes, God is interested in the big stories. But He's also interested in the details. The journey of faith, it seems, is not always Go Tell It On the Mountain but also, Go Tell It While You're Washing Dishes.
In other words, it matters to God how we live in our small moments.
In Genesis & Exodus, I kept asking myself if I had the kind of faith that Abraham had? Could I live a life of total dependence upon God, even to the point of giving up what I most cherish?
But then I realized that God doesn't ask me to run before I've learned to walk. This is where Leviticus is important. Can I be obedient in the small things first? Obedience, after all, is worship. Obeying God is saying: yes, I trust You. Yes, I believe in You. Yes, I love You.
As a mom, can I worship God even in the toughest moments of crying babies, bickering siblings, unfinished laundry (is it ever finished?) and sleep deprivation? I think this might take me a lifetime to do well.
One thing I know: He loves me. And He's taking the small moments, the small stories of my life, and weaving them into His story.
Anyone have thoughts about what they've been reading? Please share!