Day 107
Deuteronomy 28:15-68, Luke 18:1-30, Psalm 47:1-9
That all seemed very extreme! Deuteronomy, by all intents and purposes, paints a picture of a God who is rather judgmental and a little brutal. It is hard to escape what it says and yet there are two sides to every coin. The people are about to step into a land of Baal worship, what they are likely to be offered will lead them away from God and to destruction. And so God steps in, and tries to lead them away from ever getting to that point, he warns them before they even come up against Baal that He is the only one. If we skip back, to the verses before these, we see a generous and faithful God who speaks of promise and prosperity. This is a God who loves the people enough to try and stop them getting into trouble. OK the language may not be the best, but looking deeper paints a very different picture of God to what first reading might give.
Then the Gospel tells us about a judge who just got bored and that is why he gave the woman what she wanted. Apparently God might be something like this judge. But Jesus is painting a picture of the same God of love that wanted to keep his people from the wrong ways. This is not a comparison of God and judge, it is a contrast. This time that loves cares for our needs far before we have to nag him like that judge.
Even when we cannot fathom Him, when we wonder where he is, when we wonder what on earth is going on, there is a God of love who cares for us. When life throws things at us that seem too tough to handle, there is still the God of love. No matter what is going on, know that he is there.
That all seemed very extreme! Deuteronomy, by all intents and purposes, paints a picture of a God who is rather judgmental and a little brutal. It is hard to escape what it says and yet there are two sides to every coin. The people are about to step into a land of Baal worship, what they are likely to be offered will lead them away from God and to destruction. And so God steps in, and tries to lead them away from ever getting to that point, he warns them before they even come up against Baal that He is the only one. If we skip back, to the verses before these, we see a generous and faithful God who speaks of promise and prosperity. This is a God who loves the people enough to try and stop them getting into trouble. OK the language may not be the best, but looking deeper paints a very different picture of God to what first reading might give.
Then the Gospel tells us about a judge who just got bored and that is why he gave the woman what she wanted. Apparently God might be something like this judge. But Jesus is painting a picture of the same God of love that wanted to keep his people from the wrong ways. This is not a comparison of God and judge, it is a contrast. This time that loves cares for our needs far before we have to nag him like that judge.
Even when we cannot fathom Him, when we wonder where he is, when we wonder what on earth is going on, there is a God of love who cares for us. When life throws things at us that seem too tough to handle, there is still the God of love. No matter what is going on, know that he is there.
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