“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
NUMBERS 18-20
2Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”
6Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7The Lord said to Moses, 8“Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
9So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
13These were the waters of Meribah,a where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.(20:2-13)
2Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”
6Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7The Lord said to Moses, 8“Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
9So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
13These were the waters of Meribah,a where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.(20:2-13)
MARK 7:1-13
5So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
6He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“ ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’b
8You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
9And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observec your own traditions! 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’d and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’e 11But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
JOURNAL
Tradition vs. true obedience and love. This is the issue at hand in this passage. Jesus calls out the Pharisees for not understanding and being true to the heart of the message. I see this everyday in life...how often my actions are done out of habit or just going through the motions. I think this is definitely part of the human condition. Habits can be good or habits can be destructive...
When I was in high School, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People came out and it really became a new standard for changing behavior. It began with the paradigm shift that we can choose our actions...1) Be Proactive. This idea then flowed through the other habits. I think this is also at the heart of what Jesus was saying...we can choose to be different, we can choose to be obedient to God rather than to blindly follow rules, just for the sake of following the rules.
While some would view this as being a dangerous paradigm shift...it is but it really is the only way to get to truth and transformation. Getting to the why of our behavior gets to our heart and that's what God is ultimately after.
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Tradition vs. true obedience and love. This is the issue at hand in this passage. Jesus calls out the Pharisees for not understanding and being true to the heart of the message. I see this everyday in life...how often my actions are done out of habit or just going through the motions. I think this is definitely part of the human condition. Habits can be good or habits can be destructive...
When I was in high School, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People came out and it really became a new standard for changing behavior. It began with the paradigm shift that we can choose our actions...1) Be Proactive. This idea then flowed through the other habits. I think this is also at the heart of what Jesus was saying...we can choose to be different, we can choose to be obedient to God rather than to blindly follow rules, just for the sake of following the rules.
While some would view this as being a dangerous paradigm shift...it is but it really is the only way to get to truth and transformation. Getting to the why of our behavior gets to our heart and that's what God is ultimately after.
When I was in high School, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People came out and it really became a new standard for changing behavior. It began with the paradigm shift that we can choose our actions...1) Be Proactive. This idea then flowed through the other habits. I think this is also at the heart of what Jesus was saying...we can choose to be different, we can choose to be obedient to God rather than to blindly follow rules, just for the sake of following the rules.
While some would view this as being a dangerous paradigm shift...it is but it really is the only way to get to truth and transformation. Getting to the why of our behavior gets to our heart and that's what God is ultimately after.
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
ROMANS 12:1-2
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