march 12

Matthew 25:1-13; Romans 8:1-17; Psalm 59; Numbers 28-30

The Matthew reading is hard:
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." THe kingdom of heaven is like the 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom, and if you didnt prepare "the oil" beforehand, you might miss Him entirely when He arrives. I think this describes a lot of us where we are simply not watching out in our spiritual walk wiht Him, not being vigilant and alert..I can account myself the many times I pray and fall asleep.

in romans
"5For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.[g] And by him we cry, "Abba,[h] Father." 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Not that we all have sufferings that we can compare to the disciples but I think it could take the form of being nice to everyone you know, and not self-serving; adopting a Jesus attitude towards trials...think about how much we complain about our homework/exams..and would Jesus ever have done that to those around him about the Cross??

In Psalms
I think about Eliza's question once more. She asked why didn't God just speak to the whole nation instead of just moses. I think the only answer I could think of was how they probably weren't ready yet. Becuase I have been seeking for this answer in my own spiritual life: why doesn't God speak to me more directly, more personally..rather than through the Bible and through my distant prayers..I think He doesn't want us to depend on the glory of His presence solely, because we need to WORK out our faith, and persevere..like Jesus Christ. I think oftentimes we seek for that mountaintop experience with Him but when we come down from the mountain (like after Urbana, etc.) we do not know what to do once more or how to pick up our faith because we had been do dependent on that .. And so the people weren't ready as well to hear God, think about how we know about Moses entire lifestory, God has been preparing Him since birth! And tested His faith many times, showing him who was God.

In Numbers, it is so interesting how everytime God wanted the people to sacrifice animals to Him and to atone for their sins, he says, DO NO WORK. And just focus on me. Don't get distracted by our work...:P We should always set time apart for Him ..