I have never had so many Golden Chocolate Oreos and Diet Coke with lime in my life! The other day i went to Walmart and went down the soft drink aisle "just to look" and see if they had my favorite diet beverage. Turns out they did but only in a 24 which i bought without hesitation... I'm a terrible person i know. My house mates and a few guys from across the street proceeded to WinCo to buy a duck, turkey, and two pork shoulders to smoke in the 55 gallon oil drum owned by our friend Zach a.k.a North Carolina. While at WinCo i decided it was a really good idea to buy Golden Chocolate Oreos, Carmel Apple Pops (split between my housemate Rakel and I), and a $.55 donut (seriously, who can pass up a $.55 donut?). Let's just say when i got home i felt guilty and will no longer be going to WinCo due to it's irresistible cheapness.
MORE importantly i have been taking an Old Testament class this past semester where most of the time i feel lost but on the odd chance that i understand what my professor is talking about, i learn a lot. I realize that the majority of my knowledge of the Old Testament comes from Sunday school when i was four years old. My teacher is seriously.... the most intelligent man i have ever met and I'm always in awe of how much he knows about creation, Jewish culture, and biochemistry (yeah... he's that guy). Due to the fact that most of the OT stories i heard in kindergarden were "child friendly", i have come to some realizations/ understandings these past six weeks that have opened my eyes to who God is and a little bit of how He works.
As we go through the OT, the main purpose is to show the history (what ACTUALLY happened) of the world and the Messianic line. First... I always thought that it was wrong to not like Jacob. The story of Jacob stealing the first born birth right always seemed "bad" but for some reason i thought i was still suppose to "like" Jacob seeing as though God DID choose him to be apart of the Messianic line... right? My professor taught us in a way that portrayed Jacob for what he really was... a conman. Jacob was a TERRIBLE person! He stole his brothers birth right, lied to his dad, had two wives, and lived as a virtual unbeliever and pagan! All this to say... God doesn't care who you are. He uses the poor, unbelieving, sinners to do HIS will in order to glorify Himself and His work!
Second... Whenever i was taught the story of Jacob and Esau, i always learned that Esau probably was "just joking around" when he sold his birth right to Jacob for a bowl of soup. Little did i know that Esau actually had grown to despise his birth right. Jacob was Rebekah's favorite child and she was constantly reminding Esau and Jacob that the younger would one day serve the older. Esau had grown to despise his birth right and sold it for a value he thought was fair... a bowl of "red". Why didn't God use Esau in the Messianic line? Doesn't he seem like a better choice that stupid Jacob? AGAIN... God does His will.
Third... At one point my professor got really quiet and said, "Girls... I'm going to ask you a question and i wan't you to think long and hard about it. How would you feel if you were Leah?"... ouch! My heart sunk and i felt like crying. How would i feel if i KNEW my father was giving me to a man that didn't love me and would rather have my sister? THEN, after he discovers who i really am after ACCIDENTALLY marrying me, yells at my father that this isn't the one he wanted. I felt kind of sick thinking about that BUT as we went through Genesis, in the midst of this great story about Joshua, there is a random insert about Judah in chapter 38. God used Judah in the Messianic line and where did Judah come from?... Leah. God uses Leah in the midst of this mess!
Just a little bit of what i have been learning... it might be craziness that i have just never realized this before but... oh well.
God is bigger than Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and me.
P.s.
Shout out to Jordan Kilmer for being the first one to ask for a shout out!
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