The Wall

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“What a dear old wall that is that runs along by the river there! I never pass it without feeling better for the sight of it. Such a mellow, bright, sweet old wall; what a charming picture it would make, with the lichen creeping here, and the moss growing there, a shy young vine peeping over the top at this spot, to see what is going on upon the busy river, and the sober old ivy clustering a little farther down! There are fifty shades and tints and hues in every ten yards of that old wall. . . . It looks so peaceful and so quiet, and it is such a dear old place to ramble round in the early morning before many people are about.” Jerome K. Jerome, “Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)” Ch. 6 (1889)

"I want it THAT way"

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I want to be perfectly, 100%, completely and truly honest here. I only skimmed Exodus 26-28. I did not read it. I skimmed it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read it before, I know what it says, but I did not read it.

Pretty boring stuff, right? If there was a “Better Homes and Gardens” channel of the Ancient Near East, this is it. I would crack a Martha Stewart joke here, but it’s just not the same anymore . . . thanks, Martha.

How to make curtains from linen and goats’ hair.
How to make boards and sockets.
How to make a veil and a screen.
How to make a bronze altar.
How to make a court.
How to make clothes for priests.

I mean, c’mon. I must have yawned about half-way through the first paragraph of the first chapter-skim.

Then I got convicted.

This is not “The Idiots’ Guide to Porta-Churches”.
This is not Extreme Temple Makeover.

These are the way God wants it done. These are God’s instructions to build what He wants built. These are His blueprints, His plan, His color selection . . . He even chose the appliances and the uniforms for those who will work there.

These are God’s instructions on how to make and shape and cut and cover and drape and paint and dress. He tells what kind of oil to put in the lamps, how to hang the drapes, how to dress.

This is the way God wants it done.

Isn’t that how it is, though? God says something and we yawn, we jump ahead, we pray a little faster (Oh, God, you know our hearts). God tells us what He wants and we shrug it off . . .

What happens if the Israelites took short-cuts, missed a step? One almost dare not think of it.

God was coming to live in their midst. The tent was small and the outer covering was ugly and the inside was the dwelling for the uncontainable.

Sounds like me—ugly on the outside, dwelling place of the most High God . . .

And I skip steps in life.

If you need me, I’ll be over here . . . reading . . . making certain God is satisfied.

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