THEN

It is important to see the Bible as a whole not simply unrelated chapters and verses. Writers were telling a story not providing snippets from which to pick and choose. True meaning is found in context.

With that in mind, I was struck when I noticed how Matthew's story changes between chapters 3 and 4. At the end of 3, Jesus had just 'fulfilled all righteousness' by being baptized, seen the Spirit of God descend and heard a voice from heaven say, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. Wow, what an amazing experience!

But don't put the book away yet. Chapter 4 begins with the word 'THEN". The story continues. After Jesus follows God's plan THEN He is led by the Spirit to a desert boot camp. After He is publicly claimed as Son by God THEN the devil mocks Him with 'if you are the Son of God'. After the heavens are opened to Him THEN Satan entices Jesus to prove His power by using it for His own gain. In every situation Jesus was prepared for the THEN?

Working in the world of computer development, THEN is an important part of what we do. If A THEN B. Look for a condition THEN you get the result you establish. However, as Matthew tells us, the THEN may not be the results we expect. We imagine, "If God is pleased THEN I get blessings" or "If God's child THEN I should never experience troubles". Isn't that how we think God should work?

God did not make us like computers to perform by a script. Instead we must choose how we will handle the THEN. The circumstances were defined but Jesus’ attitude was always obedience. It is a change of perspective for me to see it as "If obedient THEN more opportunities to be obedient".

The Breath of Life

...then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils THE BREATH OF LIFE, and the man became a living creature. Genesis 2:7

God formed man from the ground. Not with a shovel to make a pile of dirt but as a potter forms something of use. Trying to grasp the image of the all mighty God leaning over to work the dirt by hand. Everything else He spoke into being but man he shaped, molded, formed, created each detail. Then the intimate connection between God and man took place. God gave man the breath of life. He passed to us the actual spirit of God. He made us in His image and gave us His Spirit.

How can I not be moved by that? God is the very breath I breath. He is a close as the air that surrounds me. While I do not often think of my physical breathing, it becomes all I am able to think about when it is cut off. How long do I go without the breath of life? How can I not be moved by that?

Forgetting to Remember

"God blessed the seventh day and made it holy..."

Genesis 2:2 and Exodus 20:11

While creating an entire universe in the beginning of Genesis, the one thing deemed holy was the seventh day. Everything else on the list was good or even very good but because God rested from his work on the seventh day it became holy. Okay, so God makes everything and it is good but when He stops making, it is holy?

Later in Exodus when God is listing those pesky 10 commandments to Moses on how to live in this world, the fourth one down tells us - "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy". Why is it holy? This happens to be one of two commandments God takes a moment to explain. Like any good Father, his explanation is "Because I made it that way". Six days work then on the seventh rest. Make one day different each week. Set aside and join me.

Has this become the least observed commandment? Wonder how many modern day Christian households define rest on a Sunday morning preparing for church? Or how many mom's feel rejuvenated after that big Sunday meal? Or what percentage of restaurant open because of the after church rush?

God rested then gave us rest. Holy was not in the doing but it was in the stopping. We are convinced that the world depends on us so we must GO every waking moment. God set a rhythm to everything, including us. He did not build a machine but someone to live in relationship.

Whether your Sabbath is Sunday, Saturday or Thursday, is there a day that is holy (set apart) in your life? Is there day you rest and enjoy? Is there any moment that time slides by with no doing but just being? I know my answer to those questions need a lot of work rest.

In the beginning God created...

Recently started my fourth read through the Bible and I cannot get out of the first chapter of Genesis. The creation story provides so much to consider. So much said, so much left unsaid.

God speaks and from nothing an entire universe comes into existence. Was it six 24-hour days or six billion years called six days? Either way the power to create something from nothing leaves any comprehension or research of that creation limited to what the owner of that process wants to convey.

God ordered the universe.
Day, night, weeks, seasons, years - God built time.
Land, sea, sky - God built space and place.
Birds, fish, animals, plants, trees, us - God built life.

Big bang? What started the bang?
Evolution? What kicked off the first beat of life in the primordial ooze?

"In the beginning God created...". These five words set the foundation for the rest of the Bible and the rest of history. Those five words are the prerequisite to the everything else. If I have trouble comprehending something else in the Bible or something in life, consider those words in Genesis 1.

God's creation, God's plan, God's power, God's rule.

If only that were my starting point for the way I try to see everything.

It is all God's. It was nothing then God created. I was nothing then God created. Anything I 'have', God created. Anything I experience, God created. Just understanding it all is His creation, His plan, His power, His rule would make sense why I have so much trouble making those things mine.

IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED...