Saturday, March 5, 2011

Genesis


As you know, I love to read... so I have decideed to read my way through the Bible. I have read a lot of the Bible via topic studies or devotionals, but never as a book, God's story to me.

I just finished the book of Genesis, the story of the beginning from the creation of Adam and Eve through Joseph's death. A significant amount of the Sunday School stories are contained in Genesis: Adam and Eve-the creation and fall of man, Cain and Able, Noah and the arc, the tower of Babel, Abraham and Sarah, Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob- Leah& Rachel, and all his decedents, Joseph- his dreams, and rise to authority in Egypt and how he sustained all of Egypt from a devastating famine.

I already knew all of these...stories - I hate to use the word "stories" because it implies fiction and that is not what the Bible is.

What really stood out to me by reading all of Genesis like a book, was the amount of times God had to renew, or remind his people of His covenant with them. While reading it, it seemed like every other chapter God was saying, "Abram, go to the land I have called you to, I will bless you, I will make you a great nation, your decedents will be many, I'll bless those who bless you and curse those that curse you, All nations on earth will be blessed through you." Then after Abram (Abraham) died He gave this same promise to Isaac, then to Jacob, then to Joseph. He reminded each of these men multiple times of this covenant.

I was kinda like... Ok God I get it you made this promise to them.... then I realized that because the whole book of Genesis was passed down via word of mouth, family story/history, and wasn't recorded until Moses wrote it. This meant that years, possibly decades passed between chapter.

It was then I realized that God wasn't renewing His covenant for His sake, but for man's sake... We have such a short memory, we let little things distract us from what God has called and promised for us, too soon forgetting the promise all together. I see now that I am not any different than my biblical ancestors, I let life get in the way, I forget what God has called me to do. That my season of drought is not unique to me but a shared experience... and how fortunate we are that God loves us so much that He continues to remind us of His promise, that He calls out to us in our own darkness, that He remains forever constant, forever faithful, forever true.

3 comments:

pretendingsanity said...

I feel as though he has to remind me of my covenant with him daily. How easily we forget we are his! How easily I forget the promises he has made if I don't keep them in front of my face.

But one good thing is true, just because we may forget doesn't mean that his word ceases to be true or that his promises fall away!

Danny,Vycci and Kids said...

One time when I was reading my scriptures I realized how many times our Heavenly Father has to tell us the same things over and over again. And I paralleled that to my own children, and immediately remembered how many times I have to tell my children something before they really get it. We are just the same. We are children of God. He loves us, and teaches us the same thing over and over again until we get it. Love you too!

Polly said...

I love that even when we feel a million miles from God he is ALWAYS one step back.