Category: Morning Musings

Digging in Deeper: Proverbs 17:17

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“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When the apostle Paul was describing how the church works best, he chose more than once to use the illustration of a human body. A human body is healthiest when all the parts properly play their part. No two parts are the same, and all of them are necessary for the fullest and best functioning. This is the case with the body, it is the case in the church, and, as we are going to see, it is the case in a movie. The best movies feature a team of different actors all playing unique parts. If everyone plays their part well, the movie works. I was reminded of this fact this week as I finally got to watch Deadpool & Wolverine when it made its streaming debut on Disney+. Let’s talk about what worked, what didn’t, and how even in an excessively gory, foul-mouthed, irreverent, and sacrilegious movie, the Gospel is still present.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 39:32-43

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“So all the work for the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was finished. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses. . . .The Israelites had done all the work according to everything the Lord had commanded Moses. Moses inspected all the work they had accomplished. They had done just as the Lord commanded. Then Moses blessed them.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There’s an old saying that goes like this: Practice makes perfect. It sounds good, but it’s not really true in that form. A more accurate rendering would be this: Practice makes permanent. If you do something enough times, you will always do it that way. But if you don’t do it quite correctly all of those times, you will always do it wrongly. In order for practice to make perfect, it has to be evaluated. Once the tabernacle construction was complete, it came time to evaluate what they had done. Let’s take a look at how this process unfolded.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 35:10-19

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“Let all the skilled artisans among you come and make everything that the Lord has commanded: the tabernacle — its tent and covering, its clasps and supports, its crossbars, its pillars and bases; the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the curtain for the screen; the table with its poles, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence; the lampstand for light with its utensils and lamps as well as the oil for the light; the altar of incense with its poles; the anointing oil and the fragrant incense; the entryway screen for the entrance to the tabernacle; the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand; the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and bases, and the screen for the gate of the courtyard; the tent pegs for the tabernacle and the tent pegs for the courtyard, along with their ropes; and the specially woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary — the holy garments for the priest Aaron and the garments for his sons to serve as priests.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Although I’ve never read it, there’s a rather famous from several years ago called “I, Pencil.” The whole thing is about how a pencil is made from the standpoint of the pencil itself. Pencils seem like remarkably simple things, but their construction is far more complicated and convoluted of a process than you might imagine. The whole argument of the author is that no one really knows how to make a pencil. It takes all of the different people involved each doing what they know how to do in order to bring one into reality. God was directing the people to build a place for worship, where they could go and experience His presence. Putting it together was going to be a group effort.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 34:29-35

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“As Moses descended from Mount Sinai — with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain — he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone! They were afraid to come near him. But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he commanded them to do everything the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, and the Israelites would see that Moses’s face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter) ‬‬

Do you remember the first time you fell in love? I’m talking about high school – or maybe even junior high – puppy love. With a bit of life experience under your belt, you quickly recognize that’s not the real thing, but don’t bother trying to convince the starry-eyed youth of that. You’ll be wasting your breath. Thinking back to that time, when you got to spend some time around your crush…excuse me…the love of your life…you weren’t the same as you were before. You were a little spacey. You probably had a sappy grin on your face. Maybe you even whistled a tune. Anybody who was around could tell that you had been around your heartthrob. You weren’t the same as you were before. When Moses had spent some time with the Lord, he wasn’t the same, and everybody could see it. Let’s see what kind of sense we can make out of this interesting end to the chapter.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 34:21

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“You are to labor six days but you must rest on the seventh day; you must even rest during plowing and harvesting times.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The other day, some folks in my church were having a conversation before Bible study about the wonder of modern conveniences and the changes they have brought to our lives. Many of the things we consider among the most basic conveniences were introduced as ways to automate mundane tasks and give us more time for leisure. Instead, not knowing what to do with all our extra time, we filled it with either mindless banalities or else even more work. Rest and genuine, fulfilling recreation have seemed to escape us. And yet, one of the commands God came back to again and again with Israel was a call to rest regularly. And in their rest, they were to learn to trust. Let’s talk again about Sabbath and realizing there’s more to the world than just ourselves.

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