Finding God’s Heart
I started the new year with a goal in mind. I had long put off reading the Old Testament so much in my life. I don’t know about you, but I’m the type of person that when something seems overwhelming, I put it off. Then, I remember it later, but I feel anxious about how much time has passed without making any progress, and I get more anxious. So… I put it off again. You can see where that has led me.
I participate a lot in church and I have for a long time. I’ve been at The Church at Severn Run for seven years now and I’ve been a Christian twice that time if not more. I had read the New Testament maybe 13 years ago when I was a teenager, but my biblical knowledge was incomplete. I had been joining the Compass Young Adult Connect Group since before COVID hit, and Josh Sharo had been leading the group through a study on the entire New Testament.
Shameless plug, we meet Monday evenings at 7p.m. at the church!
Every week, he was reinforcing the importance of knowing what scripture says. In cases where the text was confusing, he challenged us to sit with the scripture and decide with some thought and research what the bible was saying. He really wanted for us to learn and know this because after all, it is the word of God. Josh inspired me to do what I had put off for so long.
In a culture that loves binging, I made time to read God’s word nearly every day. I was working full time and doing stuff in the evenings, but I did my best to make time. Instead of watching seven more videos on YouTube, I cracked open my study Bible and read the Bible. I was also reading through the study Bible notes and watching the Bible Project videos as I went – more on that in a second.
With all that being said, I wanted to write and share my thoughts and takeaways after reading the Old Testament. For starters, the Old Testament makes up more than three quarters of the Bible. The Old Testament sets up the groundwork for why God sent Jesus to die on the cross for us.
Here’s a big theme: God’s chosen people fail. Time and time again, the Israelites fail. They are idolatrous, unfaithful, violent and immoral. Unfortunately, we can’t take the high ground because their human flaws are similar to our own. Particularly in the books of Judges, 1 & 2 Kings, and the prophet books, you get clear examples of Israelites turning away from God’s covenant.
Ideally, Adam and Eve would have set the standard for how we are to relate to God, but even they failed. Abraham’s family, selected by God, was imperfect through the generations to Jacob. Jacob, also known as Israel, was not perfect and neither were his sons. The tribes leaving Egyptian slavery during the exodus knew God was looking out for them, and they still went after their own thing – read the story in Exodus 32 about the golden calves which happens more than once unfortunately.
What I noticed, over and over, was God did not give up on His people. For the evil brothers selling Joseph into slavery, God used this to save Jacob’s family in the long run. When King Saul was being overrun by the Philistines, God used David to lead the Israelites. When the Israelites were complacent and committing sins of idolatry for other gods, God sent His words to the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and a handful of others to give them even more chances.
Repeatedly, we learn from the Old Testament that God’s nature is to be patient. His love is relentless. He didn’t always save the Israelites from the consequences of their spiritual infidelity – read the end of 2nd Kings, but there was always something prepared for the people. There was a plan for the church to continue to praise and worship God.
Even more so, God wanted His people to bring more people into the fold. God’s plan was to bring the Israelites into the promised land not to act as the new world power and dominate the native and surrounding nations, but to spread the teachings of the Torah – the first five books of the bible.
Don’t get me wrong. Reading the New Testament and learning about Jesus is important, but reading the Old Testament is just as important. For one thing, You see and learn about God’s character. Remember it was God who sent Jesus. Jesus is the cornerstone to our faith today, and He was and is God’s son.
God is just. He is kind and loving. He is Holy – set apart. In fact, His holiness is so good that it leads the Israelites out of Egypt and into the promised land literally with fire.
I could say a whole lot more about the Old Testament. There are many key characters chosen by God who are important to remember for good or for bad. My favorites are Joseph at the end of Genesis, the prophet Elijah, Job, King David and Ezekiel. Their lives are both great and hard, but they had divine purpose set up by God. When we read their stories today, it inspires us to continue to deepen our devotion to God.
Reading scripture is how we can get to know God. Our relationship with God can start to grow and blossom by knowing and studying the word of God – all of it.
It might seem overwhelming, but the truth is that it’s life changing. It’s absolutely doable. You can do this. Go pick up your Bible. Stop reading this. Go fall in love with God. Peace.
JH