At the beginning of 2012, I started a "Bible reading plan." No, not the read-through-the-whole-Bible-in-1-year kind (although, there's nothing wrong with that attempt. I wonder what the completion rate on that one looks like, though?) This one is called a 180-day "bird's eye view" of the Bible. I am LOVING it. You can check out this plan and others, if you're interested, here: http://blog.buckheadchurch.org/2011/12/19/your-2012-bible-reading-plan/
I'm loving this Bible reading plan for a few reasons:
1) I'm reading and learning lots of Bible stories that I've never actually read before
2) I'm discovering more about God's character
3) I have direction for where to go when I open my Bible in the morning
It has seriously been a really great (and easy - it's only one chapter per day) addition to my daily faith life in the past 5 weeks. Since I started, I've read chapters in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, and Psalms. While I'm pretty familiar with the gist of Genesis, Exodus, Ruth, and Psalms... it's safe to say that those other books have not been on my must-read list lately. I'm so glad for a little nudge to check them out... I'm learning so much!
So, here are my three big takeaways from my first 5 weeks in the Old Testament:
1) The Israelites were a hot mess... and we are the Israelites. So, this "birds-eye view" plan just gives the general through-line of the Bible story. And let me tell you, so far the story is going a lot like this:
-Israelites whine and complain
-God rescues them
-Israelites turn away from God
-God redeems them
-Israelites forget God's blessings
-God reminds them
-Rinse and repeat.
It's seriously ridiculous. I want to be like "HELLO! Are you all idiots!? Do you not remember what God has done for you over and over and over again?" And then, just as that rampage is flying through my head, I'm reminded that this is the story of God's chosen people. This is my story. I'm just as bad as they are, if not worse, and God's grace, mercy, and forgiveness for me is never-ceasing. When will I remember and believe?
2) I'm not sure that God's reverance for human life is quite as strong as we think it is. I believe that it's part of our nature to think that God thinks of death in the same way that we do. As I learn more of the Old Testament story (and reflect upon those New Testament stories that I already know), I'm growing more and more convinced that God cares deeply about eternal life, and cares... well, less deeply, about our life-span on earth. I'll tell you what, people die in the Old Testament like it's no big deal. People are burned, cities are ravaged, innocent children are slaughtered left and right. And, for what it's worth, God certainly doesn't even spare his own people most of the time. It's just interesting... and it's changed my previous conception of God's perspective on life and death.
3) God's story is absolutely full of unlikely heroes. Holy cow! I am loving learning more of the Bible stories that I suppose lots of people learn (or remember?) from Sunday school. I'm so intrigued by Joshua, Gideon, Esther, Samson, Hannah, Samuel, David, etc. (I've omitted the other awesome and wonderful people that I already knew a lot about lol). It is crazy and ridiculous the people that God chooses to do his work. If you think the apostles were a rag-tag army... the prophets and people carrying on in the Old Testament are no better, for the most part. And I love that. It is SO COOL to me. I guess what I'm learning (backwards lol) is the consistency of the Bible and God's story for our redemption. It's not just that God's power is made perfect in Paul's weakness... it's that it has been made perfect in human weakness from the dawn of time and will continue to be so through the end of time. There are so many themes that I've attributed to God through my study and knowledge of the New Testament that I didn't even realize were played out long before Jesus came on the scene... it's really awesome and reassuring to recognize that consistency.
So, there you have it. Who knew the Old Testament was so rich!? haha
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