Today’s Readings: Psalm 3; Exodus 25:1-22; Luke 18:1-8; Romans 15:22-33; Psalm 80
Today’s passage from Exodus is one of those passages that most folks either skip over or skim over in their daily readings. I know because I’ve certainly done that on more than one occasion in the past. Folks skip/skim over the passage because it’s easy to become bored in the midst all of the details that are contained in the passage – details that seem frivolous to our modern minds. “That might have been important back then,” one might think, “but it’s got nothing to say to my life today!” Or does it? Over the past several years I’ve developed a principle to apply to such passages that helps keep me in the present when I read them. That principle is this: “God is in the details”. By that I don’t mean to suggest that God is any more present in the lives of the Israelites if the chest containing The Testimony were 3-3/4” x 2-1/4’ than if it were 4-1/8” x 3-1/2”. No, I don’t believe the specific dimensions of the box are the central issue. For me, the central issue is the reverential attitude they display for those things in their lives that convey the presence of God. The energy they direct toward finding the right materials and shaping the chest in the right dimensions are an expression of their profound love of God. In this way, the Israelites found God in each and every detail of their lives – including the construction of their chest. So what about you? Do you find similar ways of paying attention to the presence of God in your life? If not, find ways of slowing yourself down and making time to look for God. If you do that you might just be surprised when God turns up in the most unexpected places imaginable – in the details of your life. Til next time…
Today’s passage from Exodus is one of those passages that most folks either skip over or skim over in their daily readings. I know because I’ve certainly done that on more than one occasion in the past. Folks skip/skim over the passage because it’s easy to become bored in the midst all of the details that are contained in the passage – details that seem frivolous to our modern minds. “That might have been important back then,” one might think, “but it’s got nothing to say to my life today!” Or does it? Over the past several years I’ve developed a principle to apply to such passages that helps keep me in the present when I read them. That principle is this: “God is in the details”. By that I don’t mean to suggest that God is any more present in the lives of the Israelites if the chest containing The Testimony were 3-3/4” x 2-1/4’ than if it were 4-1/8” x 3-1/2”. No, I don’t believe the specific dimensions of the box are the central issue. For me, the central issue is the reverential attitude they display for those things in their lives that convey the presence of God. The energy they direct toward finding the right materials and shaping the chest in the right dimensions are an expression of their profound love of God. In this way, the Israelites found God in each and every detail of their lives – including the construction of their chest. So what about you? Do you find similar ways of paying attention to the presence of God in your life? If not, find ways of slowing yourself down and making time to look for God. If you do that you might just be surprised when God turns up in the most unexpected places imaginable – in the details of your life. Til next time…
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