The Lord Is There

I'm working on reading the Bible all the way through for the second time. I'm using the one-year plan from God Sightings, put out by Group and Tyndale, although it's become the two-year plan for me. At any rate, I'll be done by the end of the year.

This morning I finished Ezekiel, which put me in mind of the first time I read the Bible all the way through. I was in high school when I finished, and at that point I wasn't following any plan. I was just reading a chapter a day, reading the books in no particular order and checking them off when I finished. I just decided on a whim which book to read next. And so it happened that the last book I read was Ezekiel. And the last words of Ezekiel are the new name for God's holy city, written as "The Lord Is There" in English (NIV).

I remember being really struck that those were the last words I read before I could say I'd read the Bible cover to cover. It seemed almost like a summary to me of the whole Bible. No matter what sinful things were going on, what chaos ensued, the theme of the Bible was that God's presence was there. Dwelling in the Temple. Filling his holy city. Feeling the pain of rejection as his people turned to idols. Sending his own Son to provide a way he could be intimately present in our life.

The Lord is there in your life. No matter how you've messed up, or how messed up your life seems. He's with you. His Word is evidence of how he longs to speak into your life. His sacrifice of his own Son is evidence of how he longs to be present with you for all eternity.

Are you lonely? Are you hopeless? Are you running on empty?

The Lord is there.

Willingness

I've been working on Buzz Curriculum, on Gross Me Out (Grades 3 & 4). One of the questions I wrote into it really got me thinking.

The passage is on this story where God asks Ezekiel to do a number of weird and gross things (bread cooked over poop, anyone?) to send a message to Israel. One of the things he has to do is lay on his right side for 390 days, then flip over and lay on his left side for another 40 days. No stretch breaks, no cable TV...just stillness, soreness, and boredom.

And he does it! But the question I put in the lesson is something along these lines: Explain whether you'd be willing to be that uncomfortable for over a year if God asked you to.

My honest answer? I wouldn't be. The Sunday School answer queen in me wants to say "Of course, because I'd do anything God asked me to do!" And truth be told - if God asked me to I might even bake my bread over a fire fueled by cow poop. Maybe. As long as none of the poop touched the bread.

But lying on my side, bored and uncomfortable, for over a year? I just don't think I could do it. (And did I mention that 8 oz of poop bread a day is all the guy got to eat during that time?) I'd make excuses. I'd weasel my way out. I'm not saying that's the right thing to do. Obeying God is always the right thing to do. But I highly doubt I'd do that particular task willingly. I'm way too into my own comfort for that.

What's your honest answer - and if you truly think you could do it, how would you bear with it?