Ok, so I’ve discovered that reading the Old Testament, even in my NIV Bible, just isn’t my favorite activity. I think all the killing and gory eye-gouging could have something to do with it. The armies that destroy other armies, the lands that are invaded by locusts, the kings who fall and die inevitable, scary deaths due to their disobedience…
I realized it wasn’t so much that reading about all of this bothered this dainty little flower, after all, I did work in a factory; it was the fact that my Father was really, really mad! I don’t want Dad to be furious! With anyone! Much less me if I do something wrong! These guys knew what they should be doing, yet they didn’t. Even though they knew the One and Only God of Creation was lookin’ in on them! That had to be disappointing to any father.
The world paints a very stern, upset, ugly (if you ask me), demeaning picture of my God. He’s holding lightning bolts, or causing the earth to shake when someone says a curse word. It’s so weird to me, but I have thought back over the years of my personal image of God and it wasn’t much different. I was afraid He’d shake my world up if I said the wrong thing, or didn’t do as He asked. I’d be punished, I’d pay for what I had done! I know now to the very core of my being that it hurts God’s heart when we go against Him. He is loving, compassionate, and honorable. He is an amazing Father! What could we ever do that would cause Him to WANT to hurt us? NOTHING. That’s simply and undeniably not the way He is. It’s not in His nature. Just like for many of us, it’s not in our nature to drive slowly, attend a Kenny G concert, or eat rutabagas. It’s just not who we are. We need to take the time to get to know Him and we do that by reading His Word, even the Old Testament.