March 21
34Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:34-35, The Jesus Bible)
Happy Tuesday Fam! Welp, I have made it through Exodus in my reading of the Holy Bible for 2023. I pushed through the last dozen chapters yesterday, reading of how quickly the Israelites abandoned God to worship a golden calf as Moses was being given the strict instructions of how to build the tabernacle. To demonstrate how jealous God supposedly was (Exodus 34:14), God punished the Israelites by striking “the people with a plague” (Exodus 32:35). Stories like these in Exodus are really why everyone needs to read the Bible in its entirety, so that we can stop letting history repeat itself. After many in America worshiped another golden calf (Donald Trump) for four years, it was no wonder the world was punished with the Coronavirus.
All jokes aside, I do highly recommend everyone read the Bible cover-to-cover. I know how hard it is to get through the first five books of the Torah. Even I, who personally knows how beautiful the entire story of Jesus is, when I get to the repetitive Mosaic writings about measurements and the brutal massacre of thousands of livestock, I almost give up on the reading. But I know the story of Jesus, and I know that God was using the crazy, animal-butchering Jewish people to demonstrate to the world His true power and glory. I am so glad that Jesus is my Savior. I would never have made it as a Jewish convert. They have too many silly laws to try to follow. For me, I’ll just follow my Lord who teaches me the truth, the way, and the life and gives me two simple rules to follow: Love God above all else, and love ALL PEOPLE just the same.
Today I begin the book of ridiculous laws (Leviticus), and I will be sharing some of my favorite rules with you and why I firmly believe we can toss this book out of the Bible. If we want rules to follow to teach us how to live a “Godly life” from the Old Testament, we can try to follow the original ten commandments (which is an enormous challenge for nearly all of us). But again, thanks to my Savior and my Lord, I just need to follow two laws: Love God and Love people.
How do you love God? Well, even the rocks know and sing the praise of the Creator of Life. To love God, you need to love creation. Love nature. Love the world God created, not the one made by man. So take a good look at your life and ask yourself if you are living a life that gives glory to the creator of the universe, from the flower to the farthest reaching star. All creatures are singing praise for our Heavenly Father. Live your life so everyone around you can see you singing “hallelujah” in everything you do.
Common Sense Reborn 