Tuesday, February 2

Yes! Tonight is the premiere of LOST's final season. You may think that's unrelated to the Bible, but the writers do use a lot of Biblical references. Maybe this project will increase my understanding of LOST.

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Come to think of it, the Bible is constantly used as a tool or foundation for a metaphor across almost all media. Even Final Fantasy X has a Christ-ish story going on. Now, it may sound intellectually moronic to say "I'm reading the Bible so I can understand LOST better." But that's not what I'm saying. A lot of times, when other media uses Biblical type stories, I find myself coming to a greater understanding and appreciation of the original Biblical story. Just like how Jesus spoke in parables to make it easier to understand, sometimes it takes someone referencing Jesus' sacrifice in a TV show or video game or literary work for me to say, wow! That makes so much more sense now! It may or may not be the intention of the writers of these media projects to help Christians better understand their faith, but it often does for me. Do you guys ever have similar experiences?

Reading for February 2
Exodus 15:19-17:7
Those Israelites sure are frustrating...

So God leads the Israelites out of slavery. He performs miracle after miracle to make that happen. Now they are nomads and constantly moving from place to place. Every time water becomes scarce, or there isn't just enough food to go around, they start to ask why they were brought out of slavery at all. They say "at least we had meat and water to drink every day." But they didn't mention that they were being mistreated and abused and beaten and murdered by the Egyptians. On top of that, everytime they complained, God provided them with the food or water they needed, yet they never developed the kind of steadfast faith that allows one to fully trust in the grace and generosity of God.

Matthew 22:1-33

Another parable I've never heard, and I don't get it.


Jesus opens this section of text with a parable of a man who throws a wedding banquet. He invites one group of people but hey don't show up. Then he tells his servants to go out and invite everyone on the street corners, "good and bad". Well they do, but some guy shows up with out "proper wedding attire" so he kicks him out on the street where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth - two things always associated with Hell.

Now I get that the banquet represents heaven, and I get they the first group of people are those who reject Jesus, but I have NO IDEA what it means to not be wearing the "proper wedding attire" or what that's representative of. Nor do I understand why failing to do it is an automatic ticket to Hell. I hope I have the right clothes in my "heavenly wardrobe"...

Then Jesus defends the idea of the resurrection of the dead in a strange way - he said that God saying"I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" means that he is the God of the living, not the dead. To me though, that doesn't say anything about people being resurrected. I am definitely missing something....

Psalm 27:1-6

 ¹ The Lord is my light and my salvation—
      so why should I be afraid?
   The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
      so why should I tremble?

You know, "The LORD is my light" is such a common expression, but I've never thought about what it meant. The other analogies are fairly obvious. Salvation is simple - he saved us from sin, fortress is simple as well - he protects us. But "light". "My light". So what does light do on a scientific level?

• Reveals things hidden in darkness
• Creates shadows
• Generates heat
• Allows for colors to be seen

What about on a personal level?

• Helps us see
• Keeps us from bumping into things, or falling in holes
• Shows us any lurking dangers up ahead

Hmm, I'm still not getting it. Anyone else have any ideas what it means for God to be my light?

Proverbs 6:20-26
This passage focuses on listening to the advice of your parents, and specifically it assumes that your parents teach you how to avoid prostitutes, so that's why you should listen to them. But check out this line in the middle:

 ²³ For their command is a lamp
      and their instruction a light;
   their corrective discipline
      is the way to life.

Doesn't solve my question, but it does give me a little more insight.

Alright, almost bed time. I gotta say I wasn't too impressed with season opener of LOST. I think I can see where they're going with it, but this opener didn't have the same impace that other season openers have had. Sorry that's not at all Bible related...

Alright, good night, yo.