As many of us read through the "boring parts" of the Books of the Law, we are left wondering, "Should I skip this? Is this really necessary for me - a New Testament believer?"
It's a valid question. Moses goes on and on and on about measurements that seem to have nothing to do with a twenty-first century Earth citizen. After all, what are we supposed to glean from the tabernacle measurements?
Perhaps, we are completely missing the point. We are digging for gold in a chalk mine.
Followers of the Way are not bound to the Old Testament way of worship. We do not have to enter the Tabernacle of God, frozen with terror that we may be slain for our sins.
The Law should not be boring. It can't be boring.
The psalmist of Psalm 119:97 declared, "Oh, how I love Your law!" It was his "meditation all the day."
"But he was under the law," you might say. "Why should I rejoice for something I am not under?"
The answer is simple. We should rejoice over the Law because we are NOT under it.
We rejoice, because as we read chapter after chapter regarding the measurements of a house for God, we remember the child born in the manger. who made all of Earth His home, and after his death and resurrection, made the human heart His home.
No more must we gather fine woven linen and blue yarn and gold and badger skins. We need not measure the tabernacle of The Lord, for its measurements are that of our hearts.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Regarding the "fakeness" of Christianity
The other day I was discuussing the shortcomings I felt in my faith with a dear friend.
"Shouldn't our conversation be so revolved around things of The Lord? - like how excited we are for Heaven?"
Even as the words escaped my lips, I knew the response I would hear, because it was exactly what I was feeling.
"Isn't that really cheesy? I just feel fake talking about that."
And the truth was...I agreed. Heaven rarely enters my vocabulary, unless I'm talking to my parents or happen to say "thank heavens." After all, we don't have a lot of experience with Heaven. It's hard to get excited about something we've never seen and know very little about.
I pondered this conversation for the next several days, when one Sunday morning (ashamedly during my dad's sermon on a completely different topic) the answer hit me.
Of course it's cheesy and fake-feeling!
...just like so many other things in our lives we hold dear.
Let me give one example and let you fill in the others for yourselves.
Sports.
I love sports - especially football. I crave the NFL season each of the seven months in which I loathe its absence. But it wasn't always that way. I didn't used to care that much. Sure, my brother's and I were crazy Vikings fans, but it wasn't until I met Sam that it really came alive for me.
I used to play catch in his front yard for hours on end, listening to nothing but the sound of nature and Sam talking about the Vikings. He knew every player, stat, score, stadium and result for the past 10 years. It was astounding...and boring.
My relationship with sports, however, began to grow through those conversations. I began to understand his passion, and the more I learned, the more I shared those passions.
The first time I entered the Metrodome for a Minnesota Vikings game I could hear and feel my heart banging against my ribcage. I couldn't believe it was real. For so many years I had watched the game on T.V. and listened on the radio. Today, I was the one watching in the flesh. One of the relatively few honored guests of such a sacred game.
Is it not the same with Christ? I know of men and women who overnight became obsessed with Scripture and Heaven and God, and to an extent, that should not be shocking. The power of the Holy Spirit is...well powerful.
But for many of us, I don't think it happens that way. I don't think we instantly naturally talk about how excited we are for Heaven. It's a process. We have friends farther along than us that lead us along the way - that saturate us with their own excitement until it becomes ours.
In Colossians 3:2, Paul tells the Church to "set your mind on things above."
Why? Because we walk where we look. When I set my mind on the Vikings, my relationship with them grew exceeding quickly. When I set my mind on Christ, the same result occurs.
Set your mind on things above today, and you'll be surprised how quickly the fakey, cheesy feeling goes away.
"Shouldn't our conversation be so revolved around things of The Lord? - like how excited we are for Heaven?"
Even as the words escaped my lips, I knew the response I would hear, because it was exactly what I was feeling.
"Isn't that really cheesy? I just feel fake talking about that."
And the truth was...I agreed. Heaven rarely enters my vocabulary, unless I'm talking to my parents or happen to say "thank heavens." After all, we don't have a lot of experience with Heaven. It's hard to get excited about something we've never seen and know very little about.
I pondered this conversation for the next several days, when one Sunday morning (ashamedly during my dad's sermon on a completely different topic) the answer hit me.
Of course it's cheesy and fake-feeling!
...just like so many other things in our lives we hold dear.
Let me give one example and let you fill in the others for yourselves.
Sports.
I love sports - especially football. I crave the NFL season each of the seven months in which I loathe its absence. But it wasn't always that way. I didn't used to care that much. Sure, my brother's and I were crazy Vikings fans, but it wasn't until I met Sam that it really came alive for me.
I used to play catch in his front yard for hours on end, listening to nothing but the sound of nature and Sam talking about the Vikings. He knew every player, stat, score, stadium and result for the past 10 years. It was astounding...and boring.
My relationship with sports, however, began to grow through those conversations. I began to understand his passion, and the more I learned, the more I shared those passions.
The first time I entered the Metrodome for a Minnesota Vikings game I could hear and feel my heart banging against my ribcage. I couldn't believe it was real. For so many years I had watched the game on T.V. and listened on the radio. Today, I was the one watching in the flesh. One of the relatively few honored guests of such a sacred game.
Is it not the same with Christ? I know of men and women who overnight became obsessed with Scripture and Heaven and God, and to an extent, that should not be shocking. The power of the Holy Spirit is...well powerful.
But for many of us, I don't think it happens that way. I don't think we instantly naturally talk about how excited we are for Heaven. It's a process. We have friends farther along than us that lead us along the way - that saturate us with their own excitement until it becomes ours.
In Colossians 3:2, Paul tells the Church to "set your mind on things above."
Why? Because we walk where we look. When I set my mind on the Vikings, my relationship with them grew exceeding quickly. When I set my mind on Christ, the same result occurs.
Set your mind on things above today, and you'll be surprised how quickly the fakey, cheesy feeling goes away.
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