Wisdom

To help me through the book of Numbers, I have decided to read a chapter of Proverbs along with my normal reading. Good call Robert!

Proverbs 1 rocks. It has solidified my understanding that the primary way in which God deals with our disobedience and foolishness is to first call us out on it, asking us to turn away from it and back to Him. But if we refuse to listen, he doesn't zap us or grind us into the dirt; he simply let's us have our way and reap what we sow.

"Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them..."

It is not God who causes their calamity, but their own way, devices, complacency and turning away. This of course is not to say that all of our difficulties or troubles are caused directly by our own sin. Sin has corrupted and broken the good world that God created. Just as the tower that fell on some men in front of Jesus and the disciples was not the result of something they did, things that happen to us are not always the result of something we have done. But, certainly, our disobedience and folly have consequences.

Leviticus

Okay, I'm in the dreaded book of Leviticus. Here's what I get from the first 6 or so chapters. Sin is a real problem, and dealing with it involves death and stench and blood. I don't think we have a really good grasp of the cosmic, communal, and spiritual impact of sin. Just like our faith is personal, but not private, so our sin may be personal but not private.

Perhaps that's where the power of confession rests. I've heard we are wounded in community and therefore are healed in community; perhaps it's just as true that we sin in community so we need repentance and mercy to occur in community. Even if we sin in secret, we are part of communities and these communities are impacted by our sin though we may not recognize it.

That Sneaky Little Moses

Back from too long away...been a busy few weeks.

I've made my way to Exodus and came across this little tidbit about Moses, in the Egyptian poser part of his life. He comes across an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and then we read -

"He (Moses) looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand."

I"m not a rocket scientist, but if you have to "look this way and that" before you do something, and then you have to hide what you did, it's a pretty good chance whatever it is you did isn't a really grand idea.

So this morning, Feeties, I'm thinking about my life and asking, "What are the things I do that require looking left and right before I do them?" God, give me grace and power to overcome the desire to do such things, and the attitudes that lead to those desires.