Wednesday, December 24, 2008
For the fun of it I decided to read The Message Bible for Exodus and Deuternomy and there were a few things that stood out for me. Disclaimer first, this is the Message Bible which means I am not technically reading for the particular verses but rather the plot of the story and how the main themes are expressed. While reading, I realized that these books were splendid in understand who God really is. Within these pages, we see the God of miracles (the ten miracles against the Pharaoh), the God of care (how He took care of His people for 40 years. It was stated that their shoes did not spoil and how manna was provided everyday for 40 years such that they won't go hungry), the God of anger (How He was so angry at the golden calf that He literally sent Moses back.And how He finally decided that Moses' generation will never see the promised land) and the jealous God (it was written again and again how He demanded the people to love Him and only Him and worship no other Gods). God is not simply this grandfather figure we always try to imagine Him to be, He is a complex mix of everything which makes it hard to fanthom, yet fascinating to find out more. He is strict yet He forgives readily. He gets really angry at sin but yet after the people sinned at Him again and again, somehow they are not dead yet. The more I think about it, the more I find myself staring in awe at Him. He is not not any gods that are created from gold and silver but the God. For He told Moses, "I AM who I AM" and that is indeed how special He is. This is the God we worship and indeed who compares to Him.
Besides finding out more about God, I guess this whole Exodus story preludes our own personal stories as well. God saved the people from the slavery in Egypt with all the signs and wonders and before long they were complaining to Moses why he brought them out of Egypt. They claimed that at least there was food in Egypt and it was more comfortable. And when Moses wasn't around for 40 days and 40 nights, they decided that they needed a golden calf to worship. It did remind me of myself. God saved me from the darkness I was in and all the misery I have been through but before long, I started regretting being a Christian. I can't curse using God's name, I can't do this and that, I have to honour my parents etc. Christianity became some kind of burden which I felt like running away from. I thought being a non christian was better, at least I could do what I want. Then other things started to be more important to me, like having fun, grades, relationships etc. And I angered God. But like what He did to the people, He forgave me. He continued to shower me with the blessings that I don't deserve. Moses made a pretty apt point. SOmetimes, when blessings come our way, like how the people were winning the war against the various enemies, we start to think that it's our own strength that did it. In the first place, we are probably too frail to do anything. Second, as what God told Moses, it was because those lands sinned against God and He wanted to place a judgement on them which was why the land ended up to the people. It was not because the people were so obeidient or God was a God just just loved for the sake of loving. It was therefore, not anyone's mere strength who got these blessings or in the Moses' time, the battles. I guess that is what spending time with God is all about. Besides putting all our peititions to Him and asking for guidance or seeking that moment of peace in this busy world, it is also about reminding ourselves that we are not the one who made it all complete. It is Him. It is so easy to fall into this I am so good trap and it was though we were the one that put it all together but in reality we aren't. And we need to remind ourselves everyday that He is the absolute Lord who makes all things happen.
One last thing before I end this post. I have briefly mentioned this already. I realized that what God really cannot stand is when we worship other Gods before Him. I don't think he meant simply other religious Gods but rather things like money, grades, relationship, pleasure etc. He is a jealous God and He demands all our attention to Him. On the surface it may seem that this God is possessive over his created beings but I guess, the main reason is that, we would always self destruct when we worship anything but Him. What He really is trying to do is to love us. He knows that the only way that we can live life fruitfully is when we live it with Him in the centre. That is the, I believe, the chief reason why God is so "possessive" over us. He simply wants us to live the better life. And for that I guess, I can thank God and to somehow always remember that indeed, we should worship no other gods but Him alone. It is the first commandment of the old covenant and the first of the new as well. Love and serve Him only. In a stricter note, that would mean that if we are serving and loving other things, we are in short breaking one of the most fundemental principles of Christianity.
Innocence
12:32 AM
