The Active 4,000 Year Love Story of God Wooing His People - aka the Old Testament

While participating in a facebook debate with a friend who is wrestling with the question "what percentage of the Old Testament do I believe?" my thoughts developed through the following which I share with you below:

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What really really matters about being a Christian? What matters about it to you, personally?

I remember Pastor Marlo sharing in chapel one time many many years ago that his grandfather would say that he was a solid Christian, but that even if it was all a hoax, even if everything we believe isn't real (if God does not exist, if Jesus wasn't who we think He was), the fact in our present lives is that the Christian life works.

There are so many things we can not prove. But we can be Christians, as Christ taught us to be. And you know what that will bring us? Purpose. Fulfillment. A moral code. Love. Grounding / stability. A good life.

There are so many facets & perspectives with which to take this debate. Here's my 2 cents relating to my own worklife. When I have a $0.02 discrepancy in a bookkeeping project I'm working on, I do not spend 7 hours of my time ($245.00 of my client's money) trying to find that 2 cents. I write it off to office supplies and keep going.

Another way to look at it... When trying to determine what kind of forest you are walking in, do you analyze the weeds? Or the candy wrapper that somebody dropped on the trail?

The Bible was not written in code, in tiny small details making up some cosmic intricate puzzle. The Bible was written as big ideas, by many people all experiencing God's big ideas. Do you ever try to tell a story, and somebody gets hung up on some small detail that you mentioned in your story but really you know that that small detail is irrelevant to the point of your story? Isn't that the most annoying experience?

Do you try to take a cookie apart & eat it as it's separate ingredients? Here's a cup of flour - eat it. Here's a cup of sugar - eat it. Here's a couple eggs, raw, - eat them.

Are you trying to see the big picture of the Bible?

The Bible was written by specific people at specific points in time to convey specific messages. A little research can reveal that day's customs, culture, history, setting, etc., and can shed SO MUCH light on the "big picture" of the book you are reading (book meaning, one of the 66 books of the Bible).

Ok, and then digest this thought…

What if the entire Bible, the 66 books, orchestrated by God, is actually altogether a representation of a Big Picture idea, to be conveyed to us by God Himself?

Seriously… What is the Old Testament? It is the Love Story of God to His people. It is the story of the Israelites, the people chosen by God. The people who time and time again rejected God, spat in His fact. Time and time again, the Israelites worshipped idols, committed sins of all sorts, did their own thing. And time and time again, God sent prophets after them, wooing them back, pleading “Please, my people, come back to me, I just want you back….” The Old Testament is a history over how many thousands of years, the Love Story of a God wooing His people, and His people not staying by Him, He then stepped up to the plate Himself (in the New Testament) and made a way to He Himself fulfill the sacrifices allowing for intimacy with His people. That they, and everyone, would no longer have to sacrifice blood to be right with God, but that simply by acknowledging His sacrifice, we may partake in it.

And then in that, we may experience God.

And how cool is that?

And so I ask again… What is really important? Is the stress/nervous energies of picking apart the wording or cultural choices of that day in age, or picking apart different supplementary stories (that are simply all a part of a Big Picture), worth it?

Please do not misunderstand me. I am all about studying the Bible. But I am asking you to put it in perspective – you need to aim to grasp the Big Picture, before the thoughts you have about the details can hold any truth.

it's like the chapter list of a book not yet written

These past couple weeks include experiences in:

- death of a child (not our own, but one who played with our daughter)

- shopping for and then buying a brand new vehicle (for the first time)

- finishing the foster family approval process and arranging our first child in care

- shifting our work schedules so that I'm doing more child-care and Chris is learning the office routine more

And as I sit here typing, I realize I'm just too tired to expand on any of these story lines at this time, but perhaps later. :)

Swimming

I realize as I sit on the sand and ponder that now I have time. Time to write. Time to think of the thoughts which regularly only fleetingly pass through my mind. Time to reflect and be thankful. Time to enjoy the moments.

I mention planning, planning the next trip, planning who to invite, planning… I mention planning thoughts to my husband while we are working up the courage to walk all the way into the cold but refreshing Stuart Lake. He lovingly chastises me for allowing my mind to leave the moment we are in now. Now. Stay here in this moment, he tells me. And we laugh, and we splash, and we squeal like children, as we dip ourselves into the water and swim. We swim back and forth, up and down, breathing in the fresh air, feeling the slight movement of air over the water, listening to the birds, listening to the water, listening to the quiet. It’s amazingly quiet out here. This lake is 10 km wide and 44 km long, and yet we see no boats out on the water, no others swimming or moving in or on the water. It is as though we are alone in the world, alone together, if only for the moment. The sky is bright blue and the sun warms our bodies even as we know the water is cool, we feel warm. I remember being a child. I remember coming to this lake as a young child, first with my friend Roberta going to Camp Morice after grades 1 and 2, but then as an older child, perhaps age 10 or 11, going to the same Camp Morice but to a family camp with all my Veeken relatives. I remember the peace and the bliss of playing in the sand and the clay and the water. Sitting out all day making sand castles and various sculptures, and then to watch the tide take them away as the evening comes. I remember this lake being a happy place. And we play – Chris & I play. We play in the water, squishing sand and clay between our toes, laughing and splashing like children. And our world is a peaceful happy place, at least right now, as we enjoy this moment.