Tag: Worldview thinking

Morning Musing: Mark 10:17-18

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“As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus asked him. ‘No one is good except God alone.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What good is God? That’s a question that doesn’t often get asked in church, but it probably should. A good, clear answer to it can give someone a world more confidence in the reasonableness of their faith. On the other hand, a bad answer can wipe someone’s faith out of existence. Even better than a good or bad answer, though, is a philosophically sound one. So then, what good is God? Let’s think on that for a few minutes together today.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 34:27-28

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“The Lord also said to Moses, ‘Write down these words, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words.’ Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat food or drink water. He wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of the covenant, on the tablets.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Words matter. This is something we understand fairly well today. If something isn’t written down, there’s no sure record beyond our memory that it happened. When you make a big purchase like a home or a car, you have to sign a contract that likely runs into the thousands of words to guarantee you’ll pay for them or they’ll take them away from you. God’s covenant with Israel was recorded in words so that the people would remember it for sure. Let’s talk about why His word matters and what we see going on here.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 34:15-16

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“Do not make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land, or else when they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices. Then you will take some of their daughters as brides for your sons. Their daughters will prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons to prostitute themselves with their gods.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the best explorations of the law of cause and effect currently on the market is the series of books, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Each book takes the reader deep into a thought-provoking exploration of piercing questions like, what would happen if you gave a mouse a cookie? Or a dog a donut? Or a moose a muffin? Or a cat a cupcake? Or even a pig a pancake? As you will soon discover upon reading one of these classics is that a whole lot of things will happen. The mouse will probably ask for a glass of milk to go with the cookie (who wouldn’t?). Then he’ll want a napkin and a straw and a mirror and all sorts of household adventures will potentially unfold from there until he winds up asking for a cookie, and the whole thing starts over. This is all silly, of course, but the books really do help young children begin to understand that like one domino striking another, actions have consequences which is an essential insight to have when navigating our way through this world. It’s an insight that lies at the heart of our passage for today. Let’s keep digging into one of the major guardrails God gave Israel for life in their new home.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 34:12-14

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“Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land that you are going to enter; otherwise, they will become a snare among you. Instead, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, and chop down their Asherah poles. Because the Lord is jealous for his reputation, you are never to bow down to another god. He is a jealous God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the most important things that successful companies put in place when they are being formed are a set of core values. These are the things that define them as uniquely them. They set them apart from every other company that offers the same services or sells the same products. Smart companies understand that these values have to be guarded. If they let the success or failure another company experiences lead them to drift from those values, they will cease to be who they are. God created Israel uniquely and to be different from all the nations around them. Let’s talk about how He helped them maintain their identity.

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