In Genesis 4, Cain gives "some" of his crops and Able gives his first and best sheep. God accepts Able's offering and not Cain's.
As I've started trying to read the bible again each night, it has been going something like this: Get home from work, talk to my parents for a bit, put on PJs, be online for a while, read the bible, go to bed. During that time I read the bible and wrote out my prayers, I became tired. And when I read this last night I thought... am I just giving God "some" of my time? What would my first and best be like in my situation? First of all, I am NOT a morning person. Even when I get up early enough to try to have a quiet time, it ends up all bad because I get so sleepy. So for me, my most alert and active time is after coming home from work. So today I came home and instead of turning on my computer first, I sat down and read my bible and prayed and journaled. It was much longer because I was still alert and ready to go.
During the youth trip to Winshape this past weekend two verses they used throughout the weekend stuck out to me:
Psalm 86:11-12, "Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever." Is my heart divided or being distracted by other things in life? Yes. Hebrews 12:1-2, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marekd out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith..." And then as I thought of, "Above all else, guard your heart..." I thought of how it starts off with above all else.
I want to have all the desire taken out of me for the wrong things, or the things that aren't for me. The wrong jobs, the wrong guys, the wrong timing of things, sins in my life. Like gum that loses its flavor, like eating something that is too rich like a mouth full of frosting, like a stomach so full you can't drink any more, like a song on repeat, like a screaming baby for hours on end, like the feeling of being so tired of food you've eaten too often. Not a struggle to get away from, but a want to get away from.
Onward to Noah. Genesis 7:16(b), "Then the Lord closed the door behind them." God closed the door to a world that was flooding in order to save Noah and his family. That closed door was one that God closed and was a blessing. I've received e-mails saying, "Sorry, we're not hiring" or "you don't fit what we're looking for." I cringe. But those could be doors God is closing because he is blesing me in that. The same for all other things God says no to. It may not be a "bad job" or a bad situation, but that God has something else in mind. God didn't stop the flood, He just protected Noah through it. God won't stop crazy, painful, and frustrating things in life every time, but He will protect me through it when I am trusting in Him.
When Noah got off the ark he built an alter to the Lord to sacrifice animals to give thanks. Other times in the bible people name rocks and wells and stuff to remember God's goodness or thank Him. How could I do something like that now? What is something I could do to show thanks and a reminder of what He did in answered prayer? Something to think on.
SIX vereses are devoted to God saying that when He sees a rainbow He will remember His covenant and promise to never flood the whole earth again. So cool.
No comments:
Post a Comment