There are two options for readings this week. Jesus driving the traders out of the temple, or woman at the well. I chose the woman at the well cause it jumped out at me first. Even still, I only really took one-liners from some readings.
Is the LORD in Our Midst?
This week I got my words that jumped out at me before I even read anything. I took a look at the pages of the Missalette in our church and noticed that the end of the first reading matched the end of the Gospel – almost.
“Is the LORD in our midst or not?”
Exodus 17:7
” We know that this is truly the savior of the world.”
John 4:42
Starting with Foundational Questions
Life can be summarized as the journey from the first question posed by the people in Exodus to the second statement from the Samaritans in John Chapter 4. Everything else in between is different for every soul, but start and finish look the same. Whether that trip is long or short, or even if the realization happens before or after death, each of us starts by wondering and ends in knowing the Truth.
We all start by wondering where God is, who we are, and what our fundamental role is on this Earth. These questions pose a problem because they are foundational, but also difficult. As an engineer, I can say that having an unclear, unsolid foundation can lead to problems later on.
What I mean by unclear is this. Even if we are able to realize the Truth, in this case that Jesus is savior, there are levels of understanding. Each new level of understanding you receive, you realize that there is even more to understand. This concept is beautiful but also frustrating: beautiful because the knowledge is living and always fruitful, but frustrating because it be difficult to get a firm grasp on it.
Build Before You Paint
Recently, through this Bible Study (at 1 min 41 seconds in) I saw a quick diagram where each of the covenants in the story of salvation history were nicely laid out in order.
The Bible can be so intimidating that it was nice to see such a high level map from start to finish.
These covenants are the structure and foundation. It puts the Bible into a context. These covenants provide stability and a reference point for the rest of the Bible stories.
This is helpful because so many of us grew up knowing of Noah’s ark and other Bible stories, but not knowing where they belong in the story. Another pitfall is to focus on little details without understanding the foundation.
Wouldn’t it be crazy to furnish a house before finishing the foundation, structure, or even finishing the blueprints? What about decorating? You can’t decorate a wall that has no foundation. Why do we all learn isolated Bible stories and facts without getting the blueprint for the bigger picture?
Application
Everyone is somewhere between, “Who is God?” and the answer to that question. As long as we are alive, there will be more to know about the answer. This is beautiful because we always have more to know, just as we can always touch up a home. How am I learning more about God, and what is my foundation? Where does my foundation need more support?