Today in three of our readings from the One Year Bible (which you can listen to HERE (OT) and HERE (NT)), we learn about the part that we play in God's plans.
First, we hear about God and Moses talking about the rebellious Israelites. In the first part of the little story, God is angry and Moses calms Him down and says let's not kill them all even though they won't listen. Then Moses gets angry when he sees what they've done, and does in fact kill about 3000 of them. But it makes you wonder - how would Moses have responded if he hadn't just "calmed God down" in their previous discussion? Clearly Moses had a part to play in dealing with the rebellion. But one comes away from the story wondering if maybe God wasn't calming Moses down rather than the other way around.
Second, we see many players in the story of Jesus's betrayal and condemnation. Judas realizes what he's done - playing the part of the betrayer. He can't bring himself to repent, and he kills himself. The chief priests take the money and buy a field - and the prophecy that is fulfilled says "as the Lord directed." Then Peter does EXACTLY what Jesus just told him he would do - he betrays Him three times before the rooster crows. And we know that he later repents of this betrayal.
Finally, in the Psalms... "The Lord's plans stand firm forever... His intentions can never be shaken." God is the great director - causing the overall story to be the greatest story of all time: He blesses us with goodness, and we betray Him. He did it in the OT when He rescued them from Egypt - then they betray Him by worshiping a golden calf. He did it in the life of Jesus by bringing us the Kingdom of God, healing people and showing us what love looks like - and we betrayed Him and killed Him.
But that's not the end of the story. His plans stand firm forever. He is the director, and we are the actors. What part will you play in this drama? It's up to you.
God, thank You for making the story make sense. Please give us wisdom to play the right parts.
1 comment:
Amen
Post a Comment