Take a look at some of these warning labels:
- Do not attempt to stop chain with hands.
- Jonsreds Chainsaw
- Keyboard not detected. Press F1 to continue.
- Various computers
- Caution: Never aim spray at your own eyes.
- Unknown Pepper Spray
See what I mean. Some things simply leave us standing there with a big question mark hanging over our heads.
My daily Bible reading is in Exodus. Today was chapters 23 and 24. This particular verse jumped off the page today. Exodus 24:
9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. 10 There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. 11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!
These men in the Old Testament - 74 to be exact - were allowed to experience Almighty God in one of the most unimaginable ways ever recorded. It wasn't just a quick glance up and then look down. They were able to describe in detail what God looked like. I love that verse, 'There they saw the God of Israel.'
It says that they gazed upon Him and survived. And if that wasn't enough - they all sat down and had lunch together. Now that's a day to remember. Eight chapters later - just a few days down the road - 73 of the 74 forgot about their dinner date with God. In Chapter 32 they all came in agreement to construct a calf made of gold so that they could worship it.
Lets do a quick comparison - Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. 11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them.
VS.
A shiny stupid man made metal cow.
This is one of those things that I just don't understand. How can you look God in the face and then forget about that experience?
When you think about it I guess it's kind of like being forgiven of our sins that had sentenced us to an eternal hell and then refusing to forgive someone because they offended us by their words or actions. We experience the mercy of God hanging on a blood drenched cross and then burn with murderous hate and bitterness towards someone who ticked us off because of this - that - or the other. When you consider it, we look at Jesus' face and then hold on to our shiny junk all of the time. Hello?
How can we look Christ in the face and then forget what He's done. He did more than just 'dine' with us on a mountain top - he died for us on a lonely hill side.
I suppose before I blast those 73 men and accuse them of being complete morons - we better take a look at our own forgetful selves and remember what we've been allowed to experience. Salvation instead of a death sentence. I'll take that over barbecue any day!
When we allow ourselves to remember the experience of receiving grace and mercy - we WILL NOT:
...talk bad about our church family and pastor - whether if it's on the phone, in an email, or church foyer.
...look across the aisle of the church building and glare at someone in hate as we chew on bitter morsels of past offenses.
...shake our heads with a judgmental attitude towards people in the church and outside of the church just because they don't measure up.
Instead, I believe that we'll be quick to pray when we find ourselves tempted to be unforgiving. How in the world could we not do this? Look at His face on the cross again - how could we forget about that?
But we do.
There are some things in life that I just don't understand.
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