I have meditated and dug deep into the books of John and then Luke over the past several months. Getting into the details teaches me so much about God and helps me to personally make changes in my life as I understand more who I am in God’s kingdom. But once a year, I like to do a ‘fast read’ through the Bible because it helps me get more of a ‘big picture’ look at what God has done and is doing through generations of people. And it seems every time I do this, God gives me a better look at a particular attribute of himself such as his holiness, his righteousness, his creativity, his awesome love, his power, his authority, etc.
It seems that sometimes we get hung up on details when what God is trying to teach us is a larger concept. For instance, we argue about whether or not the world was created in 6 literal days with one literal day of rest. I fully believe God, being the Creator, also is in charge of time. It doesn’t really matter so much what I believe about that. What matters is that God is and that he created and that he pursues us and that his desire is for us to walk with him. I believe that is what Genesis 1-2 are all about.
When I look at the order of creation, I notice that light was created on Day 1 and that the sun, moon and stars were created on Day 4. So when scientists try to use the argument about the time it takes light to travel to say that the world is billions of years old, I smile. Since God created light, I imagine he has the authority to tell it what to do and just because in this age it takes light time to travel does not mean that during the creation it took the same amount of time to travel.
On the other hand, I notice that Days 1, 2 and 3 did not have the sun for the earth to rotate around to make a 24-hour day. On Day 1 he separated the light and the dark and created day and night. On Day 4, he put the sun in place and likely began the rotation of the earth around it, spinning on its axis and time as we understand it began. So, maybe Days 1, 2 and 3 were not 24-hour days. Only God knows. I’m okay with it either way. I think there are bigger things to be learned in the Creation account that matter a whole lot more.
I am excited as I begin this journey for 2010. What will God show me about himself during this ‘fast read’? Over the next several months, God willing, I hope to blog glimpses of God as I see him interacting with humanity from Adam in Genesis through the Revelation. As I begin this ‘fast read’, I am reading in 5 different sections of the Bible each day – Genesis, Job, Psalms, Matthew and Acts. Already, I am seeing that God interacts personally with us. He walks in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Job and his friends are seeking wisdom and understanding of how God works. Job’s friends keep trying to put God in a box and make him behave in a way they can understand. The Psalms are the emotion of the experience with God – seeking God and looking to God for help in times of struggle and praising God because he is God. Matthew begins the account of God coming to us in human form through Jesus Christ. And Acts transitions us into the last days when God’s kingdom takes on a new look. We look at the church as it began in Acts and get glimpses of where we might need to do some adjusting in today’s church where we have, like Job’s friends, tried to put God back into a box and make him behave in certain ways.
May God open my eyes to see his truth in the pages of his inspired Scriptures.
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