Pastor Bob DuPar
March 11, 2008

Journal Entry


Scripture

Numbers 15:17-16:40; Mark 15:1-47; Psalm 54:1-7; Proverbs 11:5-6.

Observation

Today’s reading was pretty intense. A guy is stoned to death for gathering wood on the Sabbath day – and I’m thinking, “Wow! I’ve mowed my lawn before on the Sabbath.” I’m glad that we are not under the law but grace. And, I’m glad that Jesus’ teachings on the Sabbath have given us a greater understanding of the Sabbath, the reason why it was instituted, and the Spirit of the law.

It’s interesting to me that the origin of wearing tassels on garments was to remind the people to follow God’s commands. By the time of the Pharisees in the NT it had become a status symbol – a “hey, look at me! My tassels are bigger and brighter than yours!” Sad.

The incident with Korah intrigues me. Obviously God got a little “incensed” with the people (250 of them) holding the censers. I don’t quite understand why some of those who opposed Moses were swallowed alive by the earth and others (with the censers) were torched from heaven. But, they were all judged and all died.

Finally, it’s alarming that Pilate knew that the chief priests handed Jesus over to him out of “envy” (Mark 15:10) and yet he still allowed Him to be crucified.

Application

The main thing I got out of today’s reading is how things that are designed to point us to God can end up being used for self-promotion. How sad it is whenever we/I divert the focus from God to ourselves. Also, I continually am impressed by the fact that I need to follow God (and His commands) explicitly, whether they make sense or not.

Prayer

“Lord, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for speaking personally through Your Word. Thank You that whenever I read Your Word I always get something helpful and practical and uplifting from it. Thank You that You are the One thing in all the universe that never gets old, that never loses appeal.”