Judges: zero separation between physical and spiritual

As I read through the book of Judges, there are moments when I wonder why all of this is in the Bible. It is rapid-fire storytelling that jumps from one battle to the next. It seems to not have much to do with following God - until you catch the little lines that connect the battle scenes.

The phrase "again Israel did evil" is like a hook that latches each story together. Following deliverance there is peace. Once the leader dies, Israel abandons God. This leads to Israel being handed over to another power and the cycle starts anew.

We can choose to get lost in the battles or look more intently behind the scenes to see the real battle for the heart. As long as the human heart is not inclined to follow the Father, there is no peace. Some of us accept that on a personal level but often forget that it applies to a societal level as well. This life will never be a life of peace and rest until we decide to rest in the will of the one who designed life in the first place. As St. Augustine said in his Confessions, "Are hearts are restless until they find rest in you."

Leviticus: rules or heart?

In Leviticus 10, there are two stories about ignoring God’s commands – one results in death and the other is blessed.

Nadab and Abihu took unauthorized incense into the sanctuary. The result was “fire came out from the Lord and consumed them”. The same fire that just consumed sacrifices in approval, consumed priests in disapproval. Then Aaron refused to eat consecrated meat but Moses – and God - accepted his actions.

We don’t know what was in the heart of Nadab and Abihu. Why did they disobey the commands? Was it from neglect, arrogance or something else? We will never know. Yet with Aaron, it was on purpose. He refused to obey the command because of his grief. The sacrificial meat was to be eaten in celebration but his heart could not rejoice after losing his sons. Thus he ignored the commands because his heart could not fulfill the command to rejoice. In these stories I find the balance of law and grace. When God’s law is violated without reason – or for poor reasons – there are consequences. When the spirit of God’s law is honored – even though the superficial action might actually be a violation – there is grace. 

Our God is an eternal Father. He knows his children and takes into account the heart behind the action. The question is do I? Or do I get so caught up in rule keeping that I only judge by actions? Would I have condemned Aaron that day? He disobeyed and he did it on purpose. How would I have responded? More importantly, how will I respond to the next Aaron in my life?

Lord's Prayer: Who's will?

"Your kingdom come, your will be done."

Really? I’m not so sure I always like this portion. As my mouth utters “your will be done” my heart sticks an asterisk on it.  Scroll down to the footnote in my subconscious and you find something like this.

“What I really mean, God, is that I like to think you are in charge; it helps my self esteem to think that I’m submitting to you. And it is great to do your will when it fits into my schedule and dovetails with what I have planned anyway. So please take my plans and bless them so that they can be called yours. After all, frustrating the plans that I have already made while thinking that I was doing your will probably won’t go well for me. It would result in me having to spend a lot of time and energy to change; as an American, time and energy are always in short supply. In fact, my time and energy could be better spent if you bless my plans rather than make me shift to yours. So, since I’ve already made plans while deceiving myself that I know what is best, let’s just avoid the frustration altogether and let’s call my will yours. Amen.”

For me, living out “your will be done” is not the hard part. What trips me up is honestly desiring “your will be done” in the first place.