the Old is enough

we've been reading out of the Old Testament.

this morning when i woke up, somehow i found myself unsatisfied with the reading i've been doing lately (mostly out of Exodus. though God does do some pretty cool things in Exodus.). i was craving the words of Jesus, the words of Paul; the words that i had been raised on in the faith. so i read most of the book of Ephesians and a bit of 1 Timothy to make myself feel better.

it made me think about what it must have been like to only have the O.T., to only have the Torah. people did for many years. and of course it was enough for them; that was what God had given, and our God is the God of Enough.

but i found it striking to consider how blesssed we were to have the words of the New Testament to add to those of the Old. and it made me think of how the Old is enough; and yet we find the picture more beautiful and more fulfilling with the New. we could live on the words of the O.T. alone, but that is not what God has ordained for us any longer. He has made things better.

praise Jesus for His words.

lessons from the O.T.

we've been reading out of the Old Testament, Exodus right now. There is always something refreshing about the OT stories that we seem to forget the details of. There is also something refreshing for me to hear, buried within the details of the law, brief glimpses that God gives for why His law is what it is and what it will mean for His people.

it is beautiful to read the details of the plans for the tabernacle, and think of how God would, unlike other gods, "tabernacle" with his people. it is beautiful to hear how God designs the robes of Aaron the high priest ("for glory and beauty") knowing that Aaron, in the beauty of his robes, was a symbol of what Jesus would be on our behalf. beautiful to see that our God, unlike other gods, gives His Son as the perfect mediator between ourselves and Him.

and it is wonderful to hear Moses plead to God on behalf of a people who completely misunderstand Who and What God is, and don't even really trust Him, and hear God choose to spare them, both for the sake of His own name, and because of Moses' plea.

it's beautiful to read of the time of the old covenant, the beginning of God's life with His own people, and think of how excited God must have been when the time came to finally set these plans of His in motion.

beautiful.

miss anya in my life

i used to have more to say i guess; i used to write a lot more often.

i sat down today after saying goodbye to anya last night, wishing that she was free to say more in her 'blog' than she is (i then reprimanded myself for not having been more forward to seek her out in places where she could say more, such as skype). i miss her thoughts, which are often so unlike mine, and so refreshing.

i miss her heart, which belives so strongly in humility and simplicity and love.

and i asked myself where i had failed to believe so strongly in humility and simplicity. i found one answer in a place i thought was unlikely: an erwin mcmanus book that i saw katie thompson reading last summer and swiped from a roomate. and i realized that my lack of committment to humility and simplicity had led to at least one area of trouble for my life.

also last night (for whatever reason) we had the primaries on tv. and i admit (though sadly) that my change of heart over the last two years is more clearly shown by which candidate i support this year than in many other areas of my life. i support a candidate that my parents and many close friends would be ashamed of. but i beleive that while he does not necessarily know what is "best" for the "economy", he is committed to simplicity and equality, and a principle that it is better for all the shares of the pie to be big enough than for the pie itself to be bigger (economists will understand that picture).

i guess this has become rambling. what i want to say is: thank you anya for being key in the change that God has brought into my heart. you are in my thoughts and prayers as you go back to serve God more.