The Bible Recap Day 37

 The Bible Recap Day 37

Exodus 22-24


God Shot - Remember your freedom to Love comes from God


It is sections like this that make it hard for me to stay consistent with reading the Bible every day. As a matter of fact, it has been 2 weeks since I have done my daily devotional because I got bored with the minute details. Does this ever happen to you? Most of the passages here are laws and means of arbitration between the Israelites. The application has always been hard for me and even as I listened to this AGAIN I found my mind wandering. I mean, I have never had to worry about being paid compensation if my ox got hurt when I loaned him to my neighbor. So, I would like to make a point to anyone reading this, and even more importantly to myself, it is ok to use a devotional guide like the Bible Recap and see what they gleaned out of it because it might have meant something to them and that may reach you where you are. 


I remember going through the book of Romans with a group of Kenyans in Afghanistan. In Romans 2 there is a lot of conversation about circumcision. The Bible study group I was leading was mostly women so I was going through that part as quickly as possible because it was a little uncomfortable. However, one of the women stopped me and really wanted to talk about the importance of circumcision in relationships with God and the church today. I did not. It was not that important to me. It was just another one of those laws that are not important anymore, right? Wrong. The church that she attended in Kenya maintained it as a requirement to be a part of church leadership. Her son, who was almost 20, had been an active member in the church since birth and was looked upon by many as a wise young man. The elders in the church saw that as well but because he had not been circumcised they would not allow him to be a leader in the church. If he were to undergo that procedure they would be happy to welcome him into leadership. But this mother took another part of scripture that talks about treating the body as a temple and circumcision was, in her eyes, defiling the temple since you were born with it so why remove it. She was so torn between what she believed and what her church was requiring.


I bring this up because it was not an important topic for me and I was not getting that out of scripture but she was. So, there are times when we must lean on others understanding or life circumstances to help scripture come alive for us. 


Tara-Leigh Cobble brought something up in her recap that really stood out to me; “He teaches His people to love each other and not exploit each other. They have a lot to unlearn about behavior - they’ve been oppressed, they’ve lived with a scarcity mentality. So he reminds them to be compassionate because he is compassionate, to be open handed because he is their provider.” The laws that God were giving Moses make sense to me. They seemed appropriate and fair and honestly... common sense. But these were people who had been living in a world of scarcity and living without. So God was reminding them that he is going to take care of them and they should not be deceitful to those around them just because they might have to go without. God was going to make sure they had enough and they needed to treat others fairly. 


My God Shot? I do not have to live with a scarcity mentality. All that I have comes from God. So, my freedom to love and love on others comes from the cup that he willingly fills for me. I am the one who chooses to not share that cup, or even to be too busy or bored to allow God to fill my cup.  

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