Well it will
be one year tomorrow since Brooke and your Tidewater-Richmond Cru staff girls started
this blog! Time really flies - and it just gets faster as you get older ;) I’m
so thankful to be on staff with women who are passionate about God’s Word and
about YOU growing in Him. Our desire is that you desire to go deeper in His
word and thirst for it daily. I love learning more about the Bible and how
intentional God is with scripture. So many Bible stories have a richer meaning
when you dive in and learn about the culture of the time and take a closer look
at the context of the passage.
A great
example is the story of the ten plagues. Some of us heard about the frogs,
locusts, and nasty boils in church as we were growing up. It wasn’t until
recently though that I learned there is a reason behind each plague (see Exodus
7-12). God was intentional with each plague to demonstrate that the gods of the
Egyptians were indeed false. Did you know the Egyptians worshipped the Nile
River and believed it was the bloodstream of the god Osiris? And that they worshipped
a frog-headed goddess of birth? It was no coincidence that God turned the water
of the Nile to blood and sent more frogs than they could count. The Lord was
making a point to the people and especially to Pharoah that He was the One True
God. The only one worthy of worship.
God had Moses tell Pharoah the last three plagues would be even worse “so that you may know that there is none like
me in all the earth” Exodus 9:14. I never noticed Exodus 12:12 before but it
makes sense in this context. “Against
all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.”
Of course it’s
not just enough to learn about the
Bible for the sake of knowledge. We want to be doers of the word and not just
hearers (James 1:22) so we will grow in Godly wisdom. The application I see in
my life is that I worship false gods when only the Lord is truly worthy of that
position. I may not struggle with worshipping cows or a frog-headed goddess of
birth but I do put people before God.
And security.
And time, sleep, food, approval...
The list could go on. Anything
we put above God is an idol. Do you have any idols? I’m thankful God has dealt more gently with me
when I deserve ten plagues too. If we come to Him in our brokenness He promises
to meet us where we are. We don’t have to clean ourselves up first. This is the
beauty of the Gospel and it’s in the pages of the Bible from the beginning of
the Old Testament to the end of the New Testament. Savor it sisters!
My challenge
to you is to not just read the words
on the page but to studyand savor them. Pray before opening your
Bible, soak up each word, re-read the text, and pray through scripture. Before you
pull out your favorite commentary ask God to reveal any insights He
might have for you and then read it again if you’d like. His word is living and active and it will change your life!
