I'd gotten behind in reading the Bible through in 90 days. I thought about actually picking the Bible up and reading, but I felt committed to listening my way through.
Then I had a long road trip--back and forth to my mother's farm for the Fourth of July. That got me through Kings and nearly through Chronicles. With my walking partner on vacation, I'm taking the Bible as my walking companion. Then I got through Ezra this morning peeling and freezing peaches. Just like that (well, not really), I'm back on track.
Listening this morning to the story of the returning Exiles and the conflict between them and those who stayed behind has given me pause. The men gathering and repenting of marrying foreign wives and leaving those wives and children is most troubling. Of course, as God provided for Hagar and Ishmael, God can provide for those abandoned wives and children. But what was God's will in this? I am reminded that I must take care interpreting the stories of the First Testament especially when I use them to discern God's take on any given contemporary issue. It seems that finding the meaning behind the meaning is critical.
Listening to these stories in consecutive order over a short period of time is shaping me, and the best preparation I can think of for whatever God has next in store for me.
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