Friday, May 14

W'alright. That's short for "well, all right" but it's really fun to say. Try it. Right now - out loud.

W'alright!

Say it to your friends. They'll think you're great.

Reading for May 14
1 Samuel 15:1-16:23
OK, some really compelling stuff here. We have yet another God sanctioned genocide. This time its the Amalekites. I need to look past it though to get some of the other messages here. God orders Saul to kill every one of the Amalekites - every living thing in their land must be destroyed. Saul had almost everything killed, but took their king alive and also kept a lot of the best livestock for himself and the other soldiers.

Now, his intentions were apparently good for this livestock - he intended to use them sacrificially for God. Here's how God responds to that though:

"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
       as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
       To obey is better than sacrifice,
       and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

Actually, that was Samuel speaking,  but its basically the same here, I think. What I take this to mean though is that God cares more about obeying and loving him than rituals and routines. I had a conversations a few years ago with a roommate of mine who had given up meat for lent, but was complaining about not being able to have it. Huh; that sounds a lot like the Israelites. Anyway - I told her I don't believe it really matters if she ate meat or not at that point. God just want to know you love him - keeping up a ritual that arguable doesn't mean anything to you is only hurting the relationship with him.

So the story continues from there. God removes Saul from power and puts some sort of awful curse on him because he didn't follow his commands. He tells Samuel to go and find a son of Jesse - that he will be the new leader of Israel. This happens to be David. He does not become the leader at first, he comes to play the harp for Saul which helps to alleviate the pain from the curse God laid upon him.

John 8:1-20
This is the story of the adulterous woman. You know the whole "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" bit. Again this is another example of a time when you see the old laws of God becoming invalid - here is what the crowd says:

"Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?""Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"

Jesus did not outright declare the law invalid, but what he does say makes it so stonings and unnecessary killings like this don't have to take place anymore. 

Psalm 110:1-7
Nothing really stands out in this one.

Proverbs 15:8-10
 ⁸ The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked,
       but the prayer of the upright pleases him.
 ⁹ The LORD detests the way of the wicked
       but he loves those who pursue righteousness.
 ¹⁰ Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path;
       he who hates correction will die.

Alright yo's. Goodnight.