The Stones Are Gone.

We are two chapters into Leviticus at my devotional spot. I have to admit my heart sank when I saw that Exodus had come to a close, Leviticus has never been a very gripping read for me. This is, however, my first time to read it with my devotional Bible and Lucado’s notes and trust Max to plant a seed of excitement in my heart over a book like Leviticus. In the intro notes he writes;

"Suppose your father grants you a piece of land. Free. You can farm it and make a living. There is only one condition. You first have to get the rocks out. And so you work. For hours and days you work. With time, you see the task is too great. There's just no way you can do it. You give up. Then your father says you've done enough. "I have another plot of land for you," he explains. This time the stones are gone."

"Who removed them?" you ask

"I did."

"You go to the acreage and find his promise to be true. The stones are gone, and you are left to farm. And so you sow in gratitude."

In the past year or so I have been coming to understand to an even deeper level how the Old Testament books that expound more and more on the law and the weight and the rules and the standards can and should be seen in a different light by those of us on this side of the veil.

They expound the great love of God that removed all barriers in Christ. Or as Max so beautifully puts it; "removed the stones."

This morning I read the second chapter, and I will admit, I didn’t see much there for me. Till I read my devotional notes. Lucado started by pointing out the fact that the sacrifices in these chapters taught the Israelites how to worship God through personal commitment. Through sacrifice. Hoh. I think there is something in there for me after all. He closes by quoting from Living Above the Level of Mediocrity by Charles Swindoll;

“In segments of the world where Bibles are plentiful and churches are protected, faith can run awfully shallow. Commitment can stay rather lukewarm. Eagles can learn to fly dangerously low. ‘What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.’”

This quote just twisted my insides into knots. I had just finished reading this;

"In a large house there are not only things made of gold and silver, but also things made of wood and clay. Some things are used for special purposes, and others are made for ordinary jobs. All who make themselves clean from evil will be used for special purposes. They will be made holy, useful to the Master, ready to do any good work." 2 Timothy 2:20-21

and writing this;

Love this. Oh how I want to be more than ordinary... more than wood and clay. Gold in the hands of the master goldsmith, useful, of value to Him, ready to do His work.

I don’t want my faith to run shallow. I don’t want my commitment to be lukewarm. I don’t want to fly low. I don’t want to esteem this good, cleared soil lightly. I want to dig deeper, I want to burn brighter, I want to soar and I want to sow good seeds in this beautiful soil He has prepared for me.