The journey has started

A Surprise: After many years of reading the Bible I recently stumbled onto God's command to Israel to read the Law every seven years. Even though I would have read Deuteronomy 31:10-13 a number of times through the years, it was a surprise to see that I had missed these verses on previous occasions mainly because I was in too much of a hurry. 

 The Seven Year Plan: As I thought about this command I decided that I would restart my Bible reading at the beginning and take seven years to slowly read through the whole Bible. I would take time to "smell the spiritual roses on the way".  I calculated that I needed to read about 15 verses a day to complete it in the required seven years. I accepted that I would miss some days and and I didn't want to get too worried about "catching up". Reading two Old Testament books to every one New Testament book would also mean so that I wouldn't go for four years before reading anything in the New Testament!

 The Journey Has Started: So in early March of this year (2020) I started reading the Bible this way and I'm already seeing the "spiritual roses" that I had rushed past before.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Abraham goes six rounds with God

In  Genesis 18  the Lord visits Abraham and Sarah to announce that they will have a child within a year and also let Abraham know that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah had reached a level that God had come down to 'see for himself'.  Obviously God knew what was happening but He purposefully orchestrated a discussion with Abraham that prompted Abraham to plead for the lives of the righteous who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah.  In verse 17 the Lord quizzically asks "shall I hide from Abraham what I am going to do since he's getting all the blessing anyhow and why should it matter to him?" (paraphrased). Of course God is inviting a response, and pleasingly, when Abraham hears God's question he doesn't blithely wander back home content in the knowledge that God had promised him great things, but rather he comes before the Lord and and asks: “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You ...
Read more

Boiled frogs

Image
Was Lot a "boiled frog" ? It has been said that changes in values and morals are like frogs in a pot of cold water gently simmering away. What the frogs don't realize is that the water is heating up bit-by-bit and they slowly cook to death without any attempt to jump out. In other words, by the time we see the consequences, it is too late. In Genesis 19 we meet up with Abraham's nephew who is now married with children in Sodom which seems a long way from the days when he was part of Abraham's extended family who traveled from Haran ( Genesis 12-13 ) with their livestock. Over time both Abraham and Lot became wealthy after settling in Canaan but strife between Lot's and Abraham's shepherds led to Abraham offering him the choice to live in any area away from Abraham's herds and flocks that he wanted. Lot immediately c hose the lush green Jordan river valley instead of the barren desert hills that he and Abraham's flocks and herds presently ...
Read more

The Solution

Image
Matthew chapter 8:1-34 documents a veritable avalanche of miracles that resulted from Jesus' ministry to the Jewish people.  Matthew 8 lists: the healing of a leper,  the healing of a paralyzed Gentile servant,   the healing of Peter's mother-in-law from a fever, the freeing of two men from demon possession, and continues in chapter 9 with  the forgiving and healing of a paralytic man, the calling of Matthew to follow Jesus, the raising of a girl from the dead, the healing of a women from twelve years of illness, the restoration of sight for two blind, and  the restoration of a mute man's ability to speak again. Then at the end of chapter 9, in verses 35-36, Matthew succinctly characterizes the key aspects of Jesus' ministry, their impact and what motivated Him: 35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He...
Read more