Reading from Saturday, September 18

Holy moly - I'm over a week behind. Sorry about the lax updates lately - my normal routine has been thrown off my traveling and a few late nights this past week. Let's see if I can get caught up...

Reading for September 18
Isaiah 28:14-30:11
There's only one verse that stuck out to me in this whole reading:

^29:13 The Lord says:
       "These people come near to me with their mouth
       and honor me with their lips,
       but their hearts are far from me.
       Their worship of me
       is made up only of rules taught by men.

I have been thinking lately about the idea of God. A friend of mine was telling me about this concept called Ignosticism. This is the belief that no judgment can be made one way or the other about God because there is no way to accurately or scientifically define him, or prove his existence. And in a way, that's true. The word "God" can mean completely opposite things to two different people, so what's the point of even trying to figure out more about him or debating certain characteristics about his motivations and mentalities if we can't prove it?

But I think there is merit in that. From a Christian perspective, I believe that very few people understand God as how he is described in the Bible - including myself. On the other hand, even people who know the Bible inside and out debate certain things about the character of God. But what I think God is implying here in Isaiah is that we as people have made up things about him and how he should be worshiped and those things have stuck over time. There's things that are even in the modern American lexicon today that appear to be Biblical but actually are not. "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" is a prime example. Sounds totally Biblical, but is nowhere in the Bible.

I think what God would want from all of us based on this quote is to worship him to the best of your understanding and ability after reading the Bible and experiencing his grace.

Galatians 3:23-4:31
This is especially poignant based on the previous reading:

⁸Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. ⁹But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles?

I know it's kinda buried in a larger discussion about different religious practices, but that little "known by God" instead of "know God" I think is incredibly important. Really, there is no way we could ever know God fully. I think they key to Christianity though is understanding that we are known by God. That God knows us fully and loves us fully and died fully for us. Sure there are elements we can understand about him, but I think knowing that he knows us in such an intimate way is super important to one's faith.

Psalm 62:1-12
Here is a great example of an understanding of God that is not complete:

⁵ Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
       my hope comes from him.
 ⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation;
       he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
 ⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God;
       he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

What I mean by this being incomplete is that you could read verse 5 for example and believe that God brings only hope and rest to people. But then you read Job, or experience something in your own life that's difficult and that belief that he brings hope is gone, and likely your faith with it. On the other hand, if you understand that God can bring hope, but can also bring pain - sometimes without purpose - it will strengthen you in times of hardship. 

Proverbs 23:19-21

 ¹⁹ Listen, my son, and be wise,
       and keep your heart on the right path.
 ²⁰ Do not join those who drink too much wine
       or gorge themselves on meat,
 ²¹ for drunkards and gluttons become poor,
       and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

Here's an example of potential interpretation discrepancy. I read that and my immediate reaction was "Well, it's still OK if I get drunk if I want because I won't let it ruin me." While someone else might interpret it as "We can never drink alcohol or eat meat." I think the right interpretation is somewhere between those two, but what do I know?