Whatever He Says

Ruth 1:22 (New International Version) 22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. Yes, I confess: I just read the book of Ruth tonight. Those of you with the Marathon of Biblical Proportions "Tour Sheet" will know, that is the reading for March 26th. I haven't exactly been lagging behind--in a heap at the side of the road is more like it. I don't quite know what happened, but it might have something to do with the daily reports from Paul of how far ahead he is. He is now far into June's readings; he's somewhere in the Psalms. Although I smile and nod every time he gives me an update, I find this strangely discouraging, as if there is no hope of catching up, so why even try?. This isn't Paul's fault, it's just me being silly. Well, I've decided that I'm giving myself a shake and I'm marching to the beat of my own drummer. God made me co...

He sits down at the breakfast table with a satisfied air and says, "As of today I'm caught up." Those of us on The Marathon of Biblical Proportions do not have to ask, "With what?" We know. "Well, at least I'm in Joshua," I reply, happy not to be trailing far behind in Deuteronomy anymore. "Joshua," he says with a smile, "Is a very long book." Groan. He picks up the Daily Light on the Daily Path, which we read together every morning, and he opens it. "Belinda," he says, shaking his head, "Those people--the leaders and the Judges--the way some of them lived....not that I'm judging.". For a moment I think that he's reading from the book and that I'm suddenly in it, but no, I soon realize that he's still talking about the Marathon. We agree that's the thing about the Bible. You can't read it thinking that God was endorsing the things his followers did. Some of them were terrible and it ma...

Genesis 37:28 (New International Version) 28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt . Genesis 42:25 (New International Version) 25 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man's silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey... Some of us are in week three of The Marathon of Biblical Proportions and I have to say it's been fun doing this reading through the Bible with a relatively large group of people of friends and to have our pastor preaching from some of the passages we have "marathoned" our way through each week. The pace though, feels more like a daily sprint than a marathon at times, and reading 3 or 4 consecutive chapters a day is like watching a reel of one of those old black and white silent movies in which the people all seem to be running in fast motion. Fall behind a day and i...