What's the point?

For most people, especially Christ followers, reading the Bible is a significant action.  It is a source of comfort, instruction, and of knowledge. Moreover, to those who desire to have a deeper relationship with God, it is a way in which God speaks to us. But, I want to say something that may be unpopular and upset a few folks...
Sometimes reading the Bible, particularly the Old Testament,can be anywhere between difficult to downright boring! (There, I said it!)

I mean, with all of the begets and all of the sacrifices...a journey through the book of Leviticus or Numbers can be, at best, the source of dismay rather than comfort for many a Christians and, at worst, a source of confusion for someone who has not yet entered into a relationship with Jesus.  Especially, when you compare some of the more "technical" books from the Old Testament with the exciting stories found in Exodus, Samuel, or Nehemiah.

That is of course, until we realize God's purpose behind His word...

God has a reason for every chapter, every paragraph, every sentence, every word in His love letter to us. The reason is Jesus.  Everything in the Old Testament points to the birth, the life, the ministry, the crucifixion, the death, and the resurrection of Christ in some way, shape, form or fashion.  Every "beget" is to help us appreciate the ONE birth...every sacrifice designed to remind us of THE sacrificial Lamb, the setting of every law purposed to show us that Christ came to FULFILL the law and set us free...thank God!

So, the next time you're reading your bible and you are in a particularly difficult chapter and feel yourself getting bogged down and bored remember...the ultimate reason for every word written is now sitting on the right hand of God with nail scarred hands, nail scarred feet, and a pierced side...and He intercedes for us because we are as important to Him as the smallest word in His Word should be to us....

Who's schedule are you keeping?

We are creatures of habit.  We love schedules. Time lines and deadlines drive us.  And none of these things in and of themselves are bad...except when it comes to our spiritual lives and our relationship with God. 

I mean have you ever tried to squeeze in some time with God?  What usually happens is that rather than focusing on the Creator of the universe, we focus on the time.  Rather than worshiping the Master Builder we concentrate on getting "at least 2 chapters in".  We lose the closeness...the intimacy that God so desires to share with us.

Now, don't get me wrong...I am a huge supporter of time management and truly believe that we must schedule our days in order to be productive...but, how do we schedule time with the One who is timeless?  Can you imagine standing before God and saying, "Oh, I would have spent more time with you Lord, but You know how it is...I had meetings to attend...a schedule to keep."  Sounds rather ludicrous doesn't it?  Yeah, I think so too.

Schedules...we have them, and probably will continue to have them until we are united with the BrideGroom.  But, let's take a step back from time lines when it comes to spending time with Jesus...rather than writing that particular item in our planners, let's just go...sit at our Master's feet...and bask in His glory without worrying about time...from there our schedules will work themselves out...by His grace, according to His plan and in line with His schedule. 

Mr Fixit...NOT!

Okay, I gotta confess something...I'm not a handyman.  Oh, I like to think when there is something that needs fixing that I can grab my tools and jump right in.  However, what usually happens is that I fix something that is slightly broke until it is completely broke!  It's not that I don't recognize the fact that I'm mechanically challenged...it's just that, as a man, I feel like I can fix things without the aid of outside help.  When something is broken in our home or on one of our vehicles, my wife watches patiently as I go about trying to repair it...only to smile when, later, after much aggravation, a lot of frustration, and a little anger; I give in and call a professional. I frown like a scolded child as this "professional" comes in and not only fixes the original problem but also cleans up the mess that I made trying to do what I knew I was unable to do in the first place!
You know what's funny? Many of us believe that we are our own spiritual handy-persons.
We have a problem that presents itself in our lives...it's a problem that we know that we cannot solve on our own and yet we forge ahead with limited skill and even more limited knowledge and try to solve the problem ourselves.  We make the problem worse and eventually we too have to call THE professional...we gotta call God.  In God comes, the great Problem Solver, and He not only fixes the original problem but cleans up the mess we made trying to be spiritual "do-it-yourselfers".
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30 that when we have a problem, when we are being worn out by life and the many booby traps that the enemy sets for us that we can come to Him.  We can give him our work order...we can ask the great I AM to step in and take whatever it is that is burdening us and step aside to let the Master Builder make all the necessary repairs.
So, the next time you and I have a spiritual problem or issue (and ALL of our problems are spiritual!),  let's call the One that is truly qualified to fix things up...you can check His references if you like....they're impeccable...