Week 1 | Dan

            I was reminded that my conduct in every moment of my life has serious implications. My behavior and speech in any situation is a reflection of whether or not I'm living a covenant-oriented lifestyle. I can't keep shrugging off my sinful behaviors as mere isolated incidents. I need to realize that my actions and words have weight, meaning they reflect my character/identity and reap real consequences. I think there is a desperate need for us as a society to learn how to live with honor that causes us to stop tolerating thoughtless, random living. I’ve become far too influenced by this world that no longer values commitment, loyalty, perseverance, or faithfulness. These things are actually belittled and dismissed as old-fashioned and impractical. It would be so refreshing to see our group strive to become men who go against what everyone else is saying and fight for these qualities.

            Signs serve the purpose of reminding people of their covenant. I love the idea that our God uses signs to communicate with us and to show the world that we are in covenant. However, there is a sobering warning that signs are only as meaningful as the value and commitment we put into the relationship. When you realize this, signs and sacrifices don’t seem so glamorous or merely a nice, romantic gesture anymore. There’s heavy responsibility on our part as people who bear signs of covenant with God. In fact, we see that God really hates empty sacrifices, as mentioned in those examples from scripture. What really struck me was the fact that God is able to see through the façade and straight into our hearts, and if our hearts aren’t right, he is extremely offended when we do “Christian” things. This makes me not want to cheapen the things that God has given me as a gift. Instead, when I worship God, I want it to be meaningful because of the richness and intimacy of our relationship.

            God is faithful to me and always will be. He allows me to live freely and change, but our covenant doesn’t change. Everything God does is based on the covenant that he has offered to us, and we can rest assured that our lives are in God’s hands as long as we are his covenant people. His love for us and his desire to do life together with us is real. His promises never fail.

           

            “The Narrative Question” caused me to challenge some of the preconceptions and messages that I had accepted and operated on since I was a child growing up in church. I agree that we tend to turn God and salvation into distant concepts. This makes us feel like we’re constantly running towards something that we cannot reach. The distinction between “being” and “becoming” is what stuck out to me the most. God is not an idea, nor is he static. We are not evil or depraved simply because we change over time. With God, we are living a story which is very real and has been unfolding since thousands of years ago.