I also use Oswald Chambers's My Utmost For His Highest in my devotions, so I might record stuff from that book, as well.
For example, I think it is most appropriate that the reading in Chambers dated September 21, has this line in it: "The whole human race was created to glorify God and enjoy him forever." This is, of course, a paraphrase of the (I think) Westminster Confession. John Piper, Christian author and pastor, rephrases it this way, "The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever." Piper also coined a phrased called "Christian Hedonism." I won't get into that in this post, but maybe someday I will. I'm a big fan of "Christian Hedonism."
The method behind Eugene Peterson's The Message//Remix: Solo is called lectio divina. It has four parts: Read, Think, Pray, and Live. It begins with a passage of Scripture and moves on to the other three ingredients.
Today's reading is called "Desire For Reconciliation" and begins with a reading of Genesis 3:1-10, one of the most tragic passages in the whole Bible.
The question is asked, "How does this passage speak to your situation today?" On the surface, it might not seem to. But if I stop to think that the entire rest of The Message is the story of God's redemptive process following the passage read today, I have to see how it speaks to me today.
I believe that God's redemption plan began long before the "Fall of Man." Other passages of Scripture speak of Christ as being the "Lamb of God, slain before the foundations of the earth." Before anything else was created, Jesus was already slated for sacrifice. The fall was just the catalyst for the events to follow.
I have struggled in my life. I have struggled with sin, much of it in the sexual area. But God has never stopped the redemptive process in my life. So, even though I saw myself as "naked," just as Adam and Eve did in this passage, God provided a covering. We are all naked before God. We try to cover ourselves with man-made devices, and they just don't work. Christ is the only true covering, the only way to reconciliation.
Now, in the "Pray" portion, I am to confess areas where I have deliberately rebelled against God. That, of course, will remain between me and my Father.
The "Live" section asks questions such as this: Knowing that you and everyone else on earth have rebelled against God, what do you feel? In what ways does this knowledge affect the way you live your life?
Interesting questions. I feel sadness, because I know God must feel sadness. I am angry with myself (sometimes I get angry at others, but mostly it is at myself) for rebelling. It probably hasn't affect my life as much as it should. But, hopefully, that will change beginning today.
In verse 9 of our passage today, God asks Adam, "Where are you?" Kind of a silly question if God knows everything, don't you think? Well, I think it's obvious that God already knew where Adam was. That wasn't the purpose for the question. It was so that Adam could confess. So he could admit to God (from whom Adam was foolishly trying to hide!) what had happened.
Finally, when am I most tempted to hide? Never from God, because I know that I cannot hide myself or anything else from God. I can successfully hide things from everyone else for a season, but God sees everything. My life is an open book to him.
So, there we go. Tomorrow's reading is about Jacob wrestling with the angel. Or was it??