After taking three years of Latin with Mr. John Leech and a year of English with Mr. Beymer, I cannot believe that I almost forgot to say:
“BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH!”
I will just say that once you have read Julius Caesar in freshman literature, you are never the same. I sort of walk around with a twitch yelling, “Et tu, Brute?” on March 15. I think the malady actually begins on the fourteenth and carries through to the sixteenth, but lets not mince details.
I just noticed that the passage for yesterday from Matthew was the passage that I had to write my big New Testament exegesis paper about. Look closely at the three verses in Matthew. Matthew 5:17-19. Now imagine trying to write 20 pages about what it means. Twenty pages about jots and tittles. Small strokes and small letters. Imagine.
Now imagine that this one passage has had at least 50 books written about it. I found so much information that I couldn’t even read it all. Apparently, jots and tittles are important. Really what I think is important is: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” In fulfilling the Law and the Prophets, Jesus embodied the entire corpus of the Law and the Prophets; he literally became the words. And I think the concept of obedience to the commandments is important, too. We should pay attention to the commandments, as I have written before: it is about memorizing them and incorporating them into our lives. It is about living the spirit of them, and then when we evaluate ourselves, we will see that by living in the spirit, we have accomplished living to the letter: every jot and tittle. We, too, will embody the words. Our lives will become a visual spectacle of the Law and the Prophets, and not because we tell everyone we are doing “What Jesus Would Do.” We won’t need to tell people because they will know.
Yesterday:
Deuteronomy 4: 1, 5-9
Matthew 5:17-19
Today:
Jeremiah 7: 23-28
Obey. Jeremiah writes entirely about obedience, and as I scanned the rest of the texts for this week, that seems to be a recurring theme. Much like Jesus was a model of obedience, Jeremiah calls us to obey, as well. I like verse 29: “Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.” What this means to me is, show your repentence and show your sorrow at your disobedience. Sometimes it is hard for me to read parts of scripture like this. I don’t want to have to admit that I am wrong. I don’t want to have to admit that I needto repent for anything. I certainly don’t want to go out on a barren height where all people can see me and show my remorse for my sin. I do like to cut my hair, though.
Luke 11: 14-23
I have to say that this passage has always puzzled and disturbed me. Why does Jesus even argue with them? Why doesn’t he just let it go? I like this passage because, for me, it is a glimpse into Jesus humanity. He could have just smited them, which is what I would have done given the ability to do it, but instead he explains to them who he is: “if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” He goes on to say to them that they are either with him or for him. I think this points to his humanity because he is trying to prove himself, in a way, to the people, but it also speaks to his godliness because he doesn’t just smite them.
I am going out on a limb today and putting my resume in for an assistant manager job at Hot Topic. I am very nervous, but I am also hopeful. I am in the best possible position. I have a job that I love, and I have the opportunity to see if there is something more out there for me. Besides, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to work in a place where I could have all the piercings and tattoos showing that I want, purple hair, and no uniform! I also would be working with a guy that I have known forever, and that wouldn’t be bad either! Bonus of constant amazng music, and fun customers. Hope with me.
Yeah. I am not very good at sticking with things, apparently. I skipped yesterday, too.
2 Kings 5:1-15
Luke 4:24-30
Daniel 2:24-49
I’ve got nothing. God is in control? I’m really tired.
Matthew 18:21-35
This passage reminds me of waiting tables on Sunday. Anyone who has, will understand. Really, I think Jesus is talking about how we need to extend our forgiveness to others as Jesus extended forgiveness to us: “This is how my heavenly father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” Resounds the words of the Lord’s prayer in my head again.
In honor of daylight savings time, and to protest the stupidity of it, I am taking a nap today. It isn’t like I didn’t read the Scriptures, but I didn’t have the energy to write about them and form a cohesive thought today. I closed on Friday night, working until 1:30AM, which means I didn’t go to sleep until 2ish. Then I had to be back at work at 10AM on Saturday, so I got about 7 hours of sleep. I need at least 8 to function. I got home from work at 6:30PM and went to bed at 10ish (which is now 11ish), and got up at 3:30AM. Needless to say, I didn’t function really well on my eight hour shift today, and I am not functional enough to try to think about the meaning of what I am reading. All that to say, here are the Scriptures for yesterday and today:
Micah 7: 14-20
Luke 15: 1-32
Exodus 17: 3-7 (I love Exodus)
Romans 5: 1-8
John 4:5-42
Enjoy, meditate, and learn well.
Reason Breeds Insanity 