May 1st: Deuteronomy 18, Ecclesiastes 10 and Acts 9

"If iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed."

That's from Ecclesiastes 10. What a great way to say, "Step back from the problem, think about it. What would fix the problem? Be smart." There are so many things in my life that I tried to muscle through. I pushed and pushed only to have something fail.

The same guy that wrote this also said in a book of Proverbs: "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."

I wonder if he is trying to say, "Guys, ask someone for some help. Be sharper. Stop trying to make everything work your way."

April 25th: Deuteronomy 17, Ecclesiastes 9 and Acts 8

Hello overcommitment. How are you?

It's funny how hard it is to prioritize Bible reading. I've fallen victim to the "I-don't-have-enough-time" excuse. I still have 24 hours. I just need to choose to use them the right way.

I think God knew we would struggle with this. I wonder why He made 24 hours in a day. I wonder why he made us so that we need 7+ hours of sleep. And why He made certain things take as long as they do? Sure, my commute could take less time...if I wanted a ticket. Eating could take less time, if I wanted indigestion. Loving my wife could take less time, if I didn't want to be married.

All these things are important. But obviously not as important as my vertical relationship with my maker. Yet, that relationship takes the back seat some days.

I wonder if this is why in Deuteronomy 17 God commands the king of Israel to...

"write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel."

I'm sure the king of Israel had a little more on his mind than I do. You know, running a nation and all. He wouldn't have had a scribe, a computer, a typewriter, a freaking pencil for that matter. And the Levites were sticklers. One missed letter, one typo and you had to start over. By the time the king got this thing done, he knew the law. He knew what God expected from him as well as what God expected of the people. That's pretty crazy. Pretty cool

I know that God wants me to spend time with Him. To love Him first. To get back into the habit of tithing the first part of my day. It's so hard. I know it's worth it. It just doesn't feel like it at 6 in the morning.

Thanks to all of you who send me emails when I miss a day or two. It helps. I need the reminder. Doing this blog is a discipline... and I'm not very disciplined. Kick my butt when I miss a day... email me at jonathan_reisinger at yahoo dot com.

Thanks!

April 29: Deuteronomy 16, Ecclesiastes 8 and Acts 7

It's interesting how much the Bible refers back to itself. Whether Moses recapping over and over. Or David and the psalmists relating the history of Israel. Then there are numerous times in Acts and in the epistles that the writers refer back to the history of the Exodus and the prophets.

Which makes me wonder, did the people not know the history? I know they knew the Torah really well. Did they just need a refresher? Was Basic-Israelite-History-for-a-thousand-Alex a tough one? Or, and more likely, did the people just need to be reminded of what God had done? I know I forget all the time too.

April 28: Deuteronomy 15, Ecclesiastes 7 and Acts 5-6

One question: How the CRAP did taking an entire year off fall out of style? Sign me up for that noise. And that whole "every creditor shall release his neighbor" part... I'll take some of that too. It worked for the auto-industry, how about me? And hey, I'm 28. Can I just stack my four years together starting right now?

April 25th: Deuteronomy 13-14, Ecclesiastes 6 and Acts 3-4

I am trying to imagine a situation. According to Deuteronomy 13, I suppose it could have happened.

[SCENE OPENS ON AN ARID HILL. A CLUSTER OF HOUSES ARE GROUPED TOGETHER. SHEEP, GOATS AND A COUPLE OF COWS GRAZE WITH A SMALL BOY WATCHING CLOSE BY. IT'S A WEDNESDAY. A MAN WANDERS UP TO THE FIRST HOUSE. HE PAUSES, ADJUSTS HIS ROBE, AND KNOCKS. THE DOOR IS BLUE. IT OPENS.]

Sam: Hey.

Amos: Hey.

Sam. You doing anything?

Amos: I live on a hill with sheep, goats and a couple of cows. I got like ten kids. What do you think. Of course, I'm not doing anything. TV won't be invented for like 6000 years.

Sam: It was a rhetorical question jerk-face.

Amos: You walked 7 miles to make fun of me.

Sam: Wow.

Amos: What do you want? I have to get back to...stuff.

Sam: Right. So me and the boys, we're going over to Shamir to kill everybody, throw all the stuff into the center of town and burn the whole thing up. You interested.

Amos: Shamir? Is that over by Tula?

Sam: No it's over by Gad. Two hamlets past Tula. Look, you in or not I gotta walk 12 mile to Dathan's house.

Amos: Well, if Dathan's coming...

Sam: Look forget it.

Amos: OK, OK, you can count me in.

Sam: See you next Tuesday. Bring some kabobs too. But don't take anything. Remember what happened to Micah?

Amos: Dude. This isn't my first razing.

So this story seems crazy. And it is. Not to mention that it's completely made up. Because I'm sure you were wondering. But seriously, look at Deuteronomy 13: 12-17. This is exactly what God commanded the Israelites to do. If they heard that one of the cities had turned to serve other gods, they were supposed to utterly destroy it. I get that we have grace. But how, HOW do you deal with this in the Bible? God never changes. He's loving. But He's also intensly jealous. How do explain our God to people?

April 25th: Deuteronomy 12, Ecclesiastes 5 and Acts 2

God sets up two things for the Israelites. They are to be proactive and defensive. First up, they are to study God's word. This is the defensive thing. They are to know it so well that it's bound to their minds. This will keep them from drifting away from it. Think of a stop sign. It's the most basic thing in learning to drive. You see a red sign, you stop. One plus one equals two. If they knew God's Word that well, it would be natural. They would do right.

The second thing was proactive. Think of it as a fat kid and cake. You have a lot of cake in the house and Fatty McFatterson get's even bigger. Take the temptation out and Fatty is one step closer to Arnold abs. Right after God tells them to know His Word, He commands them to tear down the idols in the land.

I never noticed that both of these commands are together. I think this priciple of taking a defensive and a proactive approach to temptation is awesome. Now if I can just stop eating that cake.

April 25th: Deuteronomy 10-11, Ecclesiastes 4 and Acts 1

Alicia and I just got a chance to attend the Biola Media Conference. We joke that if being in the media business is all about who you know, we are going to have to meet those people one at a time. I got like a C- for schmoozing.

But one thing was emphasized at the conference over and over: do good work. Dan Rupple (yes, that is the guy from Isaac Air Freight--I wore those tapes out!) said this: "put good work out there and let God use it." Remember, Anita Renfroe? She sang the "mom song." She talked about being a Christian comedian. About the stigma that came with the whole "Christian" part. But she emphasised something. She said that people may judge her for being a Christian but if she did quality stuff, if she made it in the secular market, she would be given a bigger stage to talk about Jesus (she has a sitcom pilot being shot right now with ABC).

Likewise, Ralph Winter said, "I don't care if God is pleased with my films. I care if God is pleased with me." If you've ever called Jesus "Lord" then you need to understand that He really cares that you work hard. He's your master. You're slave driver (and yes, that's what the Greek infers with the whole doulos thing). Jesus cares that you represent him well, not only in your speech but in your trade. "Doing" good work is as much about the product as the actual doing. There needs to be graciousness. There needs to be effort. There needs to be concern. There needs to be love.

I know it's not the normal bible365project post. But it's what I'm learning today.