Jan 4, 2009

One Year Plan

I have decided to read through the Bible in a new way this year. I have always wanted to read the story along the chronological lines, so I found a reading plan that will help me do just that. Today I started with the beginning in Genesis. 

I have asked the Lord to give me a new perspective, to open my eyes and show me more. He is so faithful, when we ask Him with a pure motive...to know more about Him, I don't think He can refuse His children. I didn't get very far before I stopped to think about what was really happening. We so often rush though the story of creation because we all know it so well..."And God created the heavens and the earth..."

We breeze through it, half reading - half remembering, not really stopping to think of what is happening. What was God anticipating on the first night...was He planning for the first sunrise? or was He just enjoying the first evening ever in the history of the world? 

What was it like the first night the stars were placed in the skys? Did He lay on the earth and look up at them before anything had ever set foot on the land beneath Him? Did He look at them from the skys? Did He dance in the galixies and watch the stardust move to the beat of His heart?

He spoke and it happened. It wasn't forced. It wasn't difficult. Something came of nothing according to the word of God. How powerful does that make the Bible? It is full of the words of God. It is His written word. 

How exhillirating was it watching the first tree grow from the earth? Was He excited watching the first seed fall from that tree and sprout...beginning the cycle of propagation? Was He there on the earth, was this His first opportunity to play the role of Gardener? 

How much fun did He have creating all the animals in the world...all the bugs...all the fish...all of those funny-looking creatures? And then...the crowning achievement...man and woman were created. The main course...the big event...the reason for creating the whole project. 

He made Adam and Eve with His own hands. He took special care to form Adam from the dust of the earth. From His own creation, He created man. From the something-out-of-nothing He created a living, breathing, complex, organized system of mind, body and soul. He didn't create a lesser version of man...a beta...a rough draft. In one fell swoop He created man with a personal touch and breathed life right into him. 

We have the breath of God in us. You do. I do. We have life because of the breath of God. Our first breath in this world comes from the very mouth of God. What was in Him...is now in us. 

All of this...the land, water, light, darkness, sun, moon and stars, plants and animals...was made for us, to sustain us...with the purpose of giving us life so that we could be in relationship with our creator. So we could walk with Him in the coolness of the day. 

So I am going back to that day. I am choosing to walk with Him. I am reconnecting to the origional puropse of man, which is to be in relationship with my creator. 

All of this from the first 3 chapters of Genesis, and an earnest plea to God to help me know Him.

Wow...it makes me wonder why I waited so long in the first place. 

2009 is going to be a great year!

2 comments:

marybethg said...

AMEN Sister!!! You know I love the OT. I can see God's tender love and care for us in it every time I read it.

Anonymous said...

Enjoy the journey. Remember every story, every word is a part of God's great love letter to us. Savor every moment as you read and experience Him as He reveals more and more of Himself to you.