ive toyed with the idea of blogging my way through a bible in a year and then i hit day 48 and thought, wait, it’s a little late. but i chided myself. it’s ONLY day 48. i have almost 300 days to go!
it’s never too late.
how many things can that be said for? obviously some things, but not this.
so day by day i’d like to share a thought or two as i make my way through the Bible.
i’m excited and hopeful. i can’t believe that by the end of the year i will have read through the entire Bible AND will UNDERSTAND it.
(Obviously I’m up earlier than normal. Pardon my lazy lowercase writing as I warmed up this morning!)
I already feel I know God better than ever before, and the other night, at Ash Wednesday Mass, Father said to be a good ambassador of Christ, and of His Father, we need to truly KNOW Him. Not guess or assume about Him. I’m coming to believe we have grown so far away from Him. So many people THINK they know what Jesus wants because they know one or two things about Him, hold fast to those couple of verses or Bible stories they know. And it’s GOOD we know those and obviously those are some of the most important details about Christ–He wants us to LOVE and be CHARITABLE and NON-JUDGMENTAL. But that’s NOT ALL. And even those have context. Not even just the context of the four Gospels but all of salvation history starting with Adam. And even THEN we DO need to look at what came AFTER and WHY the early church fathers proceeded as they did.
I’d been thinking yesterday, before listening to DAY 49, how surprised i was that God is such a particular God. I was amazed at how SPECIFIC he was when instructing the Israelites how to WORSHIP, down to the finest details on how a priest should dress to the way to fasten the curtains of the TABERNACLE and TEMPLE. (Even though many posted images in the Ascension Presents Facebook page, I’m still a little confused on how that was all meant to look. And I’m in awe of churches and cathedrals today that replicate the design!)
I’d been thinking about how we absolutely need to change (read: I need to change) how we attend Mass. We need to worship the way GOD instructed, the way He DESERVES to be worshipped, not the way we FEEL He should or the way WE want to. He gave directions, shouldn’t we listen?
But then, Fr. Mike turned those thoughts on their head yesterday, DAY 49, when he said God DOESN’T need to be worshipped any certain way. IT’S NOT FOR HIM BUT FOR US HE GAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS AND THESE RULES AND DIRECTIVES. These instructions and specifics and details are because HE KNOWS US. He know what WE NEED to LOVE HIM the best we can.
Throughout the Bible and SALVATION HISTORY we have been a ritualistic and liturgical people. God meant for us to worship Him a certain way, not the way we feel like approaching him based on our loose interpretations of our impressions of who He is, but who HE TRULY IS.
I’m maybe 15 % of the way through the Bible and I feel I know Him so much better and yet my fluctuation of understanding from one day to the next shows I have A LONG WAYS TO GO.
I’m so excited to continue!
XOXO
Cecelia
cecelia earl 