The weight of the Old testament.

One day I asked God why the Old Testament was so much bigger than the New Testament. If the Old Testament could be the same size as the New Testament, I reasoned, the Bible would be easier to carry around, more people would take the time to read it and there would be less scriptures to memorize. 

As He usually does when I approach Him with a questions, God smiled. I knew at once that he had a good answer for me, and He spoke.  

“You really want to know why the Old Testament is so big? It is because that’s how long it took me to get my message through to my people. To penetrate their hardened hearts, to capture the attention of their distracted and divided minds. It took me thousands of years to teach and re-teach them what they needed to learn. Often I had to take them through bitter experiences to make a simple point. Take for instance my plan to rescue the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Such a simple operation the way I had it planned. If only my people would have cooperated with me, the journey could have been completed in a few weeks. But no, they had to make it painful for themselves and the next generation and drag out the wonderful plans I had for their future in the Promised Land. Think about how many hundreds of pages in the Old Testament that one episode alone could have saved.”

And he continued, “I sent prophets after prophets to correct them and to set them on the right course, but they refused to listen. They never learned a single lesson the easy way. They mistreated the prophets I sent them and even killed some of them. I could have given up on them and ended it all right there and then, and there would be no need for a Bible at all. But I continued to be patient with them for the sake of a few who were faithful and for the great love I had for my people.So you see, I really could have accomplished my plan of salvation in a handful of books, if it wasn’t for the stubbornness of the people I was dealing with. So when you carry the heavy weight of the Bible around, do not blame me, blame the people of the Old Testament. Had they listened and obeyed the first time, the stories and experiences you see repeating over and over in the Old Testament would not have been necessary.”

So at last, I thought to myself, I have the answer and I have someone to blame for the heavy weight of the Bible. It is the fault of those thick headed Israelites. But just as I entertained that thought, the Holy Spirit intervened and posed a question. “Before you judge the Israelites, ask yourself what your own conduct and life was like before you gave your life to Christ about 11 years ago?”. That question stopped me in my tracks. I did a quick recollection and to my utter shock I saw that the Israelite of the Old Testament was only an archetype of my own self. I too had been selfish, stubborn, slow-to-learn, rebellious, sin-loving and unfaithful man.  I remembered how many people God sent my way to warn me and correct me but I would not listen. How many adverse situations God allowed me to face and the consequent losses to myself and my loved ones, to the point that one day He decided he had had enough with me and decided to uproot me from the land in which He had settled me for almost 20 years and send me to a distant land called Dubai where I knew nobody. Only then had I finally relented and surrendered completely to his Kingship and Lordship over my life.

The Holy Spirit helped me realize that the “Old Testament” of my own life was just as long and heavy as that of the Bible and I was entirely responsible for the length and weight of it, not any Israelite. If anything, the Israelite's only foreshadowed me and the stories of the Old Testament simply pointed to my own life in the wilderness, yet to unfold in the distant future. I felt ashamed that I even thought of pinning the blame on the Israelites, when the Old Testament represents my own life in the darkness on which Jesus would shine his eternal light.

Now every time I carry the heavy Bible I hold only myself responsible for its length and its weight. The heavy portion - the Old Testament- represents my own rebelliousness and my stubbornness. The light portion - the New Testament- represents God’s salvation and infinite mercy. 

Jaime Demelo 

HSI Media 

A look in the Mirror

A woman rushes to see her doctor, looking very much worried and all strung out.

She rattles off, "Doctor, take a look at me. When I woke up this morning, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw my hair all wiry and frazzled up, my skin was all wrinkled and pasty, my eyes were blood-shot and bugging out, and I had this corpse-like look on my face! What's wrong with me, Doctor?"

The doctor looks her over for a couple of minutes, then calmly says, "Well, I can tell you one thing ... there's nothing wrong with your eyesight!"

The mirror of the Word of God will reveal our spiritual flaws.

As that joke makes clear, looking in a mirror won't correct any problems you have, but it may make it clear that there is a problem! That is exactly the point James makes to early Christian believers:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25)

Looking into the mirror of the Word of God will reveal our spiritual flaws that need to be corrected — and sometimes this mirror will reveal an ugly sight! However, unless we take steps to apply God's Word and change what we see, we haven't accomplished any good. With the Holy Spirit's power, God's word will not only convict and convince us of our need for change and action, the Spirit will also empower us to that needed change and action. Let's not just take a glance in the mirror, but use it to alter our lives to honour God!

Have you looked in that mirror lately?

Written by Alan Smith
(http://www.heartlight.org/)

The Word of God- Food for our Souls!

"To the BIBLE men will return; and why?  Because they cannot do without it"
- Matthew Arnold

Isaiah 55: 2 “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare”

I can never begin my day without reading the Bible, even if it means reading one verse. It is like my Morning breakfast. The word of God gives me the much needed strength and grace to go through the roughness each day has to bring. It supports, nourishes and strengthens my soul. Deuteronomy 8: 3- “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”. This was so significant that Jesus quoted this to Satan.

Everything that this world has to offer is perishable. When the earth and its produce are burnt up, The Bread of Christ, His grace and salvation will be found remaining unto eternal life. This is the portion after which an immortal spirit should seek-”Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval”- John 6:27.

The strength derived from the word of God is not exhausted. It endures without wasting away. It nourishes the soul to everlasting life. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall run and not be weary and shall walk and not faint”- Isaiah 40:31.

God intended for us to treat his word with respect and to seek it every day as our spiritual food. I am sure that the vast majority of us do not forget to eat physical food everyday, right? So why do we neglect our spiritual food? The Bible is God’s word (food) that is full of flavor, aroma and taste and we literally need it to survive spiritually just like our physical bodies need food on a regular basis to survive. “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name”- Jeremiah 15:16.

Our physical bodies require water as well to survive; our spiritual bodies too, in the same way, we must drink from the living waters to quench our thirst. The living water is one that only Jesus can provide. Without water there is no food and no life.” But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life”- John 4:14.

People often make excuses when it comes to reading the Bible. Either they are too busy and don’t have the time, or they are too tired to read, or its only meant for Preachers and Missionaries or we like to read only some parts of the bible, the other parts we don’t relate to. We need to understand the fact, that the Word of God is meant for all Gods children. We need to dig into the book and take a big bite out of it and not just a puny nibble!

God’s word is the most amazing soul food and can satisfy us beyond measure. Think of all the wonderful things found in the Bible that we can feast upon. There are promises, comfort, direction and instruction, salvation, love, joy and wisdom. The list could go on and on. The menu is full.

God has laid before us a lavish buffet. All we need to do is partake of it and the best part is, ITS ALL PAID FOR.

Don’t forget to eat your share every day. 

Bon Appétit!

 

 

Clyne Cardoz

HSI Media