Today’s scripture: Exodus 14:19-22 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Ben Lamb):
Picture this: Near-future USA. A horrific tsunami, hundreds of meters high, is approaching the eastern seaboard of the country. Madam President is at the Statue of Liberty, standing out on the torch’s platform, facing the Atlantic Ocean. All members of her Cabinet and every elected member from Capitol Hill are at the base of the monument. The rest of the country’s population is either crammed shoulder-to-shoulder looking on, or is glued to a TV set elsewhere across the country.
The ghastly curtain of watery death comes into view. It is so high that it blocks out much of the bright noonday sun. The roar is deafening. Certainly, the end of life is coming for millions of people!
Suddenly, the President makes a sweeping gesture with her hands and the inevitable carnage stops in mid-frame, as if someone pressed the “pause” button. She makes another gesture, and the liquid disaster slowly and gracefully retreats.
Then, everybody nonchalantly gets in their cars, drives home and has a healthful meal before bedtime. They knew this tidy little ending was the only possible outcome to the situation. After all, they’d already seen Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956; he also made a 1923 version).
Now, I don’t wish to demean one of Hollywood’s truly great movies (it’s also one of my favorites, too). My reason for re-setting the miracle in today’s life is to remind myself of something: I often lose track of the fact that people mentioned in the Bible often exhibited faith of. . . well. . . of Biblical proportion. How often do I do that? Let me think. . .
On second thought, I’d better not. I already know the answer. I’m ashamed to admit this, but I’m glad that I’m living after the Bible was written instead of during the times when its characters were alive.
Take today’s episode, for example. I’ve tried to think what I would have thought if I’d been one of those newly-freed slaves who was now being hotly pursued by the most powerful army on earth. And then the old man leading us hopped up on a rock and waved his walking stick in front of us all. I’d have thought he was nuts!
But, then when the miracle actually started happening, my mouth would have been full of sand from it falling open so far down.
And speaking of Bible, when I peruse it with the mindset of doing so as just a pleasurable reading pastime, I tend to think, “Yeah, yeah. Nice story with a happy ending. God is good to people who do what they’re suppose to. Next. . .”
But, when I take the time to preface my reading time with an actual prayer (something like, “God, help me to get out of this passage whatever it is that you want me to get out of it; all for your glory, please.”) it always makes a significant difference.
So, what’s the wrap-up for me from today? A cornucopia of goodies:
- Those ancestors in the faith really deserve respect and admiration.
- Re-setting miracles in modern times helps me to grasp the stunning magnitude of how they must have seemed to the people experiencing them in real-time thousands of years ago.
- God knows where I currently am on the “Faith-o-Meter” continuum as I strive to become stronger each day, yet God never tosses me out on the trash heap of life just because I’ve never parted water (nor walked on water!)
- Reading the Bible deeply helps me understand God. God helps me understand myself. Therefore, reading the Bible deeply ultimately helps me better understand myself.
Thought for the day: Digging up the ancestors and dusting ’em off can yield some amazing discoveries.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.