Hey there, friends!
Here we go! Week Two!
Here’s the reading for this week:
Monday and Tuesday are longer days this week. They each took just under 20 minutes to read, then we get back to the 15 minute mark. Hang in there. Do the hard work early in the week and let it get progressively easier for you!
Total Reading Time: 75 minutes, 38 seconds
Tips, Tools, and Insights
Here are some resources you might find helpful:
Is God endorsing all this sin?
One thing you may notice this week is that there is a lot of activity that we would not allow in churches today. Multiple wives, lying, stealing, and cheating to name a few. Yet, God is still blessing these people? This should be a source of encouragement for us. Even in the midst of our messy, sinful lives, God still blesses us!
Still there is the question of what God thinks about all this. Why is he allowing it and why are his chosen people doing these things? The big question is, is God okay with these things? When you’re wondering whether or not God is okay with something, specifically in the Old Testament, here’s something you can look for. Whenever the characters in the Bible act sinfully, you will see that God doesn’t show up in the narrative. Most of the time when the characters are doing something sinful, the author doesn’t mention God in the text. This is the author’s literary way of separating God from sin. You will see several examples of sin in this week’s reading and you’ll notice God’s name absent from the text.
Bible Reading Tip: Repetition
There are a few times in this week’s reading that you will see the Bible telling the same story twice. I’m thinking of the servant that Abraham sends to find Isaac a wife as well as when Isaac find himself in the same position with Abimelech that Abraham found himself in.
Anytime the Bible repeats itself, we should understand that as the author trying to tell us that something is really important. In Genesis 24, we read the story of the servant of Abraham going to his home country. Then, he tells the story of what happened to Rebekah’s family. It is almost a word-for-word repetition. This is because you are supposed to feel the weight of this mission. For God’s promises to be true, the servant has to find a wife for Isaac. Otherwise the line of Abraham is finished.
Again in Genesis 26, we see Isaac walking in his father’s footsteps almost exactly. God gives him a promise, he tries to tell Abimelech that his wife is his sister, there is a feud over wells, and a covenant made with Abimelech. What’s the point? We are seeing that Isaac isn’t any better that Abraham. He is repeating the same mistakes that Abraham did just a few chapters earlier. God’s plan is going forward through Isaac, but he is no more the savior than Abraham was. There must be someone else coming.
Always look for repetition, it means something important is happening!
What I’m working on this week
I’m starting to get back into the swing of things after the holidays. One of the things on my list this week is starting to check in on my members, specifically the shut ins at my church.
We are continuing our Proverbs series and I’m still loving it. Proverbs is a neat book! Fun fact, you can read a chapter of proverbs a day and read the whole book in one month (Assuming it’s a month with 31 days in it). It’s the book of wisdom, and good to read several times a year!
The January Bible Study is coming up. I’m starting to ramp up my preparation for the study. I’m teaching through Chapter 2 of Ephesians. If you’re in the area, I’ll be teaching it at Arthur Southern Baptist Church on January 21st. I’d love to see you!
Something I’m enjoying
The Pour Over
I’m still really enjoying this newsletter. I am actually trying to model the simplicity of The Pour Over in this newsletter. If you’re not sure what it is, The Pour Over is an email newsletter that comes out three times a week. It gives you the big headlines in the news from a Christian perspective. As someone who doesn’t spend time watching the news, it’s nice to be able to know what’s going on in the world, but with tips for how to approach it as a Christian. If you’re interested, here’s the link to sign up again!
https://ref.thepourover.org/308143a6/
Special Question:
I had a few people ask me how they can send me feedback. It’s really simple. The program that I’m using to send the newsletter will allow you to reply back through this email, or any others like it. Just click reply in your email app and it will get to my inbox through internet magic! So, if you have feedback, just reply to the email and I’ll get it!
Here’s to another great week of growing in the Lord!
You can do this, my friends!
-Woody
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