I'm constantly so pulsating with energy that the thought of reading The Bible makes it hard to find the will to hold His Word in my hand and read it. But I did read it yesterday and although I don't feel I learned anything in particular I did somehow feel a lot better after doing that. I'd gone several days without it and it was a good mood booster. It somehow provided me with a sense of comfort, which is in part due to the prophecies of Jesus that I read of and the gentle but firm reminders to Timothy about how to conduct one's self in a position of leadership. Odd, how that worked out, in that particular instance. Usually you hear about the Old Testament being all about how to do right and the New Testament being about how we're all forgiven etc., but in these two entries that I read of my Daily Life Principles One Year Bible (annotated by Charles Stanley) (from the books of Jeremiah and 1st Timothy, I think...not sure, might be 2nd Timonthy....) it seems to be something in between.
Basically, Love is the law. We as Christians should love each other and others so much that the rest of the world cannot help but seek out Christ Jesus. We all fall short of the glory of God and we deserve a pungent death that exceeds what Jesus undertook. However, it is also a matter of choice, so although we are guilty of not accomplishing the task of discipleship to its fullest, the fact is many people just do not care to be disciples. I have to admit, it can be an ugly business. Jesus tells his crowd of followers that they need to get rid of their belongings if they're to be his disciples. That box isn't checked on my list. If your eyes are causing you to sin, you need to get rid of them. I haven't checked that off my to do list either. I'm hoping the fact that I'm single will give me a bit of leeway in that one since this culture we currently live in does not auto-wife men like the one Jesus lived in.
In fact, those boxes will probably be the very last ones to be marked off, if they ever are.
One thing I struggle with is the right to eat. Paul says if you don't work, you don't eat. There is, like, REALLY no excuse for me to be overweight. Not like I thought I did have an excuse before reading that. Yesterday was a bit of an oddity, but it's way more common than I sometimes give credit to. I'm not even sure I should put a number on it, it's somewhere between 3K and 5K calories, much of which was sugar and fat. Most days I'm estimating I had between 2200 and 2400 calories, which is not working for me -- not at the rate I exercise most days, and given the content of those calories, it's that less likely 2000++ is at all recommended.
Anyway...
I still struggle to understand the concept of "Free will"...I mean, what is it exactly? People talk like its this thing that people generate on their own. That makes no sense to me. How do you generate your own desires and how can you be faulted for them? Maybe someday I'll understand. After this current existence, if not sooner.
