Contemplative Bible Reading

Exodus 3:1 (New Living Translation)

One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro…

These words begin the (hi)story of God bringing the people out of slavery in Egypt and into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It all started “one day.”

It was just another day for Moses—once a prince in Egypt, but now just a sheep herder in some backwater nowhere—as he was tending livestock. And these weren’t his livestock. Moses didn’t have any livestock. And these weren’t the livestock of his family. These animals belonged to his father-in-law. How mundane can this be? Awful.

But one day… the world changed.

I am typing these words while riding in a car one day on an Interstate highway. Just another “one day” in a life full of them. Perhaps this is the day that God has me do something with someone else that changes the world for that someone else. Perhaps this is one of many days that God has me do something with someone else that changes the world for that someone else.

After all, today is one day. Burning bush? Probably not. Chat with the checkout person at a gas station? Maybe or probably.

John 2:1-2 (New Living Translation)

1 The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration.

One week ago I attended a wedding. One of my nieces married. It was fun. There was much happiness and celebration. It was like Jesus and his disciples. They were invited to the celebration. They attended. They didn’t beg off to watch a college football game (who schedules a wedding on a Saturday during the college football season?). They celebrated.

If Jesus and his disciples had the time to celebrate with others, so do I. Please, take the opportunity to celebrate. Jesus did.

1 Timothy 4:7 (New Living Translation)

7 Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly.

Paul is providing advice to a younger evangelist named Timothy. A few sentences earlier, Paul mentions how there will be people teaching things that are not from God but are from demons and deceptive spirits.

People will want to discuss these godless ideas. “What about this? What about that? Tell me! Don’t change the subject!”

Well, yes, change the subject. These other ideas, that’s not the point. Jesus is the point. Some of the other discussions can be interesting. Some have a direct, short-term affect on lives. In those ways, some of the ideas are important. They, however, are not the more important. Jesus is the more important.

“But this is a life-and-death issue! We must discuss this!”

Well, maybe. Jesus, however, is greater than life and death. With Jesus, we die to this world and live to Jesus. Yes, that is a bit esoteric or something that doesn’t seem to affect me this morning while sipping coffee and typing words on a keyboard. And sometimes thinking about such ideas is so big and difficult that I get a headache. Yet, that idea is true. That idea is worth the time, effort, and heart to discuss.

Please God, help me train to be Godly.

Ezekiel 18:31 (New Living Translation)

31 Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel?

There is a sermon in every phrase in this sentence.

Let’s consider the second phrase and a new heart. “The heart” are the words we use to describe how we feel about something. I like this. I don’t like that. I really like this thing over here. I really, really don’t like that thing over there. We tend to move towards what we like and away from what we dislike. Nothing new here.

We should find ourselves a new heart. God implores the people to do so. Have a new heart. The new heart loves the things God wants the people to love. The new heart dislikes the things God wants the people to dislike. That is a righteous heart: one that feels about things the way God feels about things.

The new heart:

• Pushes me away from hating people
• Pushes me towards caring and acting from that care towards people
• Pushes me away from believing that things have spiritual power
• Pushes me towards believing that God can do things that make no sense and defy all the laws of observed science

I guess I could go on and on with what a new heart causes me to do. Just run through the ten commandments and I can find 20 things the new heart causes me to do. Walk through the teachings of Jesus and find hundreds of things that a new heart causes me to do.

This is quite simple. This is impossible to do without God. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Hebrews 9:13-14 (New Living Translation)

13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

The writer to the Hebrews is comparing the old system (Old Testament) to the new. Animal sacrifices in the old system clean bodies to be pure for ceremonies.

The blood of Jesus Christ cleans our consciences. I have to stop and think about this one for a while. The blood cleans my thoughts from sin so that I can worship God all the time. That blood came from a perfect sacrifice—one that lasts forever.

I don’t understand that; it is too much for my mind. How do you clean a person’s conscience? How to you clean a person’s ability to judge right and wrong? Perhaps the cleaning enables a person to clearly judge right from wrong. That is a big help right there.

I think it goes further than that. I cannot think through all of that. I am left to wonder about all this. I do, however, recognize the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is bigger and more powerful than I can recognize. Does that make sense? I know that Jesus is greater than I can know.

Thank you, God. Thank you for blessings that are beyond my recognition.

Genesis 6:5 (New Living Translation)

5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.

What a world. Can you imagine such a place with such an extent of human wickedness? Everything thought or imagined was evil.

We are not talking about deeds; we are talking about thoughts. Sometimes we think of good things to do, but we fail to do what we can imagine. At this time in Genesis, the thoughts were evil. What kind of deeds come from thoughts that are consistently and totally evil?

This begins the (hi)story of Noah, the flood, and sort of a second start.

What a place this must have been. Thank you God that I did not live in that place. And what am I thinking minute to minute, day to day? Please God, keep me from repeating this history.

James 1:3 (New Living Translation)

3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

James is writing to Jews who believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God. These groups of believers had been scattered to the winds and found themselves in little groups here and there. No roots in the local area and no connections to help them through the politics and culture. They were all stranded.

They were double refugees. Cast off from mainline Jews and cast off from their homes.

They believed something they weren’t supposed to believe. “Oh, how quaint. You are one of those losers who believe in that silly stuff! No wonder you ended up living in that part of town with nothing to show for your ideas.” Their faith was tested everyday.

The daily tests of faith were an opportunity to grow. Huh? Pretty naive thought, huh? This is no fun. This weighs on us daily. Opportunity? Grow? Really?

Yes, an opportunity to grow. When faith is tested today, it endures. When it is tested again tomorrow, it endures more. With each day of testing, endurance increases. This is sort of like with each day of doing pushups, muscles grow. And I don’t like doing pushups, but I like muscles to grow. And I don’t like reading, but I like knowledge to grow. And I don’t like that, but I like this to grow.

Of course it is simple. Of course it is nuanced and complicated and not naive. Of course it is difficult when others scoff at my belief in Jesus Christ.

And Jesus Christ is with me every step of the way. Thank you Jesus.

Ezekiel 18:31 (New Living Translation)

31 Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel?

There is a sermon in every phrase in this sentence.

Let’s consider the first one. God is talking to the people through the prophet Ezekiel. The people have lived sin-filled lives. Sure they sin; sure we all sin, but these people at this time were full of sin and rebelling against what they were taught.

Righteousness was no where to be found. What should they do? Put all the rebellion behind you. Simple. Yesterday is gone. We start fresh, right here, right now.

What’s the catch? There must be a catch. Sure there is a “catch.” There are many catches. My mortgage still exists. My car note still exists. My extra 50 pounds stretching my pants and making it hard to breathe still exists. Those are big catches.

Those are temporary and tiny catches compared to what is ahead. Eternity with God is farther away from my mortgage than the sky is the from the ink stains on a piece of paper that tell me how much I still owe on my house.

What’s the catch? There is no catch. God forgives. God doesn’t forget, but God acts as if yesterday never happened. God wants me to act as if yesterday never happened. God enables me to act as if yesterday never happened. That is one of the countless blessings from God.

All I have to do … sigh. All I have to do is put my rebellion behind me. Please God, help me push myself out of my own way and do it.

1 Timothy 1:13 (New Living Translation)

In my insolence, I persecuted his (God’s) people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief.

This is Paul telling of his past sins and God’s mercy. Paul would smash into gatherings of Christians and kill and torture those he found. That is an ugly picture. Consider it for a few moments.

Paul didn’t understand how the old prophets were predicting the Son of God coming to save mankind. Paul didn’t believe that Jesus fellow from Nazareth was the Son of God. Paul was ignorant and unbelieving.

That didn’t matter to God. We are told about how God’s mercy worked in the life of Paul. Paul is famous—people for 20 centuries knew of him.

Paul is alone in his fame; Paul is not alone in his redemption.

We cannot count the people through the centuries who were ignorant and unbelieving, yet still received the mercy of God. Ignorance and unbelief pains God. They do not cause God to turn away and “write us off.” God is still there waiting for us.

Praise be to God for unfailing love, grace, and mercy. (Now, if I could just grow up enough to act a little more like God.)

Ezekiel 2:6 (New Living Translation)

6 “Son of man, do not fear them or their words. Don’t be afraid even though their threats surround you like nettles and briers and stinging scorpions. Do not be dismayed by their dark scowls, even though they are rebels.

God is speaking to the prophet Ezekiel.

Words can hurt. The bite in a few chosen adjectives is powerful.

A glance can hurt. Those piercing unblinking eyes cut through the body and soul.

“Fear not”, encourages God. Nettles and briers and stinging scorpions of rebellious persons are not to be feared.

“Do not be dismayed,” encourages God.

Fear and dismay can be crippling. They can push the brave and righteous into a corner of inactivity. Don’t go there. Don’t cower in darkness. Continue to speak, love, and act in righteousness.

This is all pretty simple when you think about it. This is all pretty daunting when words and scowls hit. Please God, grant me strength.