DAY 328

POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE?

Ezekiel 22 & 23 and 1 Peter 1

Today’s readings are like the positive and negative of the same picture. Ezekiel describes the un-holiest of situations and 1 Peter says “be holy for I am holy.” Many people over the years have concluded that God will only love us, or be nice to us, or help us…if we are perfect…and of course we never are. Some wonder if that is what Ezekiel, or Jeremiah, or Isaiah, or the whole Bible is about—all our “imperfectness” and God’s punishing reaction. By now I pray you have figured out this is not what the Bible is about.

So how would you describe what the Bible is about…at this point you are 90% of the way through it! Many people would say it is about violence, and blood, and God being angry. What do you say it is about? I think one of the results of your spending a year reading the Bible is so that you can have your own opinion of what you have read.

You might be thinking, “Yeah but Ezekiel seems to by revealing an angry God.” Ezekiel is revealing and saying something very different…Ezekiel is trying to get them to look into the mirror and look at their history…he is trying to get them to look at a very simple fact that we have read about since Genesis chapter 3 (that was 325 days ago)…what is that fact? That we run away from God…we not only run away from him, but we run after all those things that are bad for us. The prophets use strong and graphic language…they say things like we “whore after” them. They also remind us of all the times God has immediately responded to those who repent.

So I would describe how the Bible is story of God chasing after his creation…human beings…inviting them to live the best way possible.

Look at 1 Peter 1 again: "You shall be holy, for I am holy." 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 

I wrote earlier that “Many people over the years have concluded that God will only love us, or be nice to us, or help us…if we are perfect.” “If we are perfect” implies something in the future. The text we read says…You were ransomed…past tense…it is done…God has taken the action. God is not waiting for you or me to be perfect: he has already done all that is needed. We are invited to respond to the love God has shown on us—God has invited us to live into the positive.