Never Ending Numbers

Well, I know it’s been a minute since I reported, but we still reads the Bible over here.  You can reference the blog, “We READS the Bible” to hear about how this journey started.  I know I’m supposed to keep ya’ll informed of my journey throughout this Bible.  But can I be honest?  It has been a hard read.

I have fully committed to this quest.  But the more I read, the more questions I have.  Every day I find myself with a growing stack of things I just don’t understand.  At one point, I said I must need to go to seminary to wade through this.  Then I quickly came to myself when I thought about papers and academic life.  I’m good on that.  I’ll keep the gate I got.

The past month has had me wandering in the wilderness with the children of Israel for forty years.  Listen….I swear it feels like I’ve been out there with them for at least twenty of those forty years.  Baby, the book of Numbers almost had me making marks on my wall to pass the time.  Would they ever make it to the promised land? Spoiler alert: They are right outside the promised land when Numbers ends.

Taking time to read the Bible for myself has shown just how much I don’t know.  You know I have been in church all of my life.  Regularly attended Sunday School.  And at 37 years old, I have come to realize that I must not have been paying attention.  I was half listening because there are whole facts that went right over my head. After my journey through Numbers, Deuteronomy was a welcome reprieve.

Moses lived forever.  Not really, but it feels like that when there are so many books of the Bible that tell of his interactions with the children of Israel.  He actually lived to be one hundred and twenty years old.  I was surprised to find that he had sharp eyesight and a healthy body when died.  That’s what the Bible says.  Seems obeying the Lord pays off.  I’m not nearly as old as him.  I wear glasses and take a few extra seconds to go from a seated position on the floor to standing.  Note to myself:  Push back from the plate when the good Lord tells you to.

The seasoned saints probably already know this, so it won’t be a big surprise.  But ummmm, I didn’t know that God buried Moses.  Now I have a few ideas about how I want my homegoing service to go.  I tossed out some suggestions to help those that are left behind.  But to be buried by God?!?!  You can’t have a bigger honor.

So, I’m still reading.  By my calculations, I’m 22% of the way through the plan.  A vast territory awaits me.  The questions that have been stirred up in me let me know that when I finish reading it all the way through, I’ll have to start over again.  I need to develop a plan to really dig into each book.  I can’t say that the Bible is my guide for life when I don’t know what’s in it.  If I say that I believe the Word of God, I need to be very familiar with the Word of God.  No excuses.  Yup.  I still reads the Bible.  #wepreach