I am reading through Genesis and Revelation for school (I will share how school came about in a later post--it was a very recent and rapid addition to my daily life!).
I started Genesis with a bit of a nonchalant attitude--after all, it is just Genesis, and how many times have I read this book in the past? I flew through the first two chapters before remembering the little admonition from the school to pray before starting any study for this degree. I stopped, repented of my cavalier attitude towards this reading, and asked the Lord to show me the truth of His word as I read.
As I read the account of Noah and the flood, I started to pay attention to Noah and his descendants. For the first time I was able to understand the beginnings of the cohesive nature of the history of Israel, from creation, to the destruction of the earth, to the theological basis for the children of Israel to conquer the Canaanites after the Exodus(this comes from Noah cursing Ham's son, Canaan, in Genesis 9). It is one of the most interesting threads I have ever encountered! Parts of the Old Testament that I've struggled to understand were starting to come alive.
The most interesting passage to me, though, was found in Genesis 8:21-22. This passage is in reference to the sacrifice Noah offered to the Lord after the flood waters had receded from the earth and all the passengers on the ark had stepped onto dry land. The passage says:
and when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma , the Lord said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."
I spend a lot of time looking for how the word "heart" is used in the Bible. I have read this passage countless times, yet never noticed these verses. There are so many passages throughout Scripture speaking of the evil in our hearts, but the earliest I start looking for these passages is in the book of Jeremiah. Here it is, though, in the earliest accounts we have of the human race--in Genesis 8 the Lord clearly states the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth! I have heard so many people try to justify their behavior as someone else's fault and not take personal responsibility for their actions. Adam and Eve set this precedent (blameshifting) in the garden of Eden, and we still do this all the time--blame someone or some thing else for our mistakes, our problems, our shortcomings--our sin.
We weren't taught how to sin. Nobody had to teach any of us how to be selfish, for example. We had that within us from the start--we simply needed a reason to show our true colors. "...the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth."
So, when was the last time you picked up your Bible, asked God to show you His word, and started to read? Slowly, deliberately, intentionally reading the passages, looking for new gems to discover? It is never too late to start, to try again, or to continue... the Word of God is unchanging, it is beautiful, and it is eternal. Happy reading!
I started Genesis with a bit of a nonchalant attitude--after all, it is just Genesis, and how many times have I read this book in the past? I flew through the first two chapters before remembering the little admonition from the school to pray before starting any study for this degree. I stopped, repented of my cavalier attitude towards this reading, and asked the Lord to show me the truth of His word as I read.
As I read the account of Noah and the flood, I started to pay attention to Noah and his descendants. For the first time I was able to understand the beginnings of the cohesive nature of the history of Israel, from creation, to the destruction of the earth, to the theological basis for the children of Israel to conquer the Canaanites after the Exodus(this comes from Noah cursing Ham's son, Canaan, in Genesis 9). It is one of the most interesting threads I have ever encountered! Parts of the Old Testament that I've struggled to understand were starting to come alive.
The most interesting passage to me, though, was found in Genesis 8:21-22. This passage is in reference to the sacrifice Noah offered to the Lord after the flood waters had receded from the earth and all the passengers on the ark had stepped onto dry land. The passage says:
and when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma , the Lord said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."
I spend a lot of time looking for how the word "heart" is used in the Bible. I have read this passage countless times, yet never noticed these verses. There are so many passages throughout Scripture speaking of the evil in our hearts, but the earliest I start looking for these passages is in the book of Jeremiah. Here it is, though, in the earliest accounts we have of the human race--in Genesis 8 the Lord clearly states the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth! I have heard so many people try to justify their behavior as someone else's fault and not take personal responsibility for their actions. Adam and Eve set this precedent (blameshifting) in the garden of Eden, and we still do this all the time--blame someone or some thing else for our mistakes, our problems, our shortcomings--our sin.
We weren't taught how to sin. Nobody had to teach any of us how to be selfish, for example. We had that within us from the start--we simply needed a reason to show our true colors. "...the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth."
So, when was the last time you picked up your Bible, asked God to show you His word, and started to read? Slowly, deliberately, intentionally reading the passages, looking for new gems to discover? It is never too late to start, to try again, or to continue... the Word of God is unchanging, it is beautiful, and it is eternal. Happy reading!