But It's Raining...

Today's Life Journal readings are Ezra 9, Ezra 10, Psalm 131, and Luke 21.

Scripture: Ezra 10:9 (NIV)
"Within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem. And on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people were sitting in the square before the house of God, greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the rain."

Observation:
The people of Israel had evidently become sorry because some folks had gotten upset about the fact that the men of Israel had begun to intermarry with the peoples they had been sent to live among during the exile. 

Application:
It's really kind of funny when you think about it, at least it is to me.  There they were, standing accused of something so vile as marrying someone that wasn't good enough...but what really had them tore up was the rain. 

I mean, sure, I can see their point, I guess.  The people of Israel had been conquered and carried off into exile.  While they were there, they tried to be faithful to the God who created them.  The people they were living among worshipped idols and engaged in other activities that the Israelites thought were sinful.  Some of their men had taken wives from among those folks, and the Israelites were worried about it.  I get that...but...

...but it's just like some church folk to get tore up about the other.  So it's raining...ok.  So they get a little wet...in the big scheme of things it's really not a big deal.  So the music's a little different...so his shirt tail isn't tucked in...so the building doesn't look like a church...

At the end of the day, if disciples are being made, do those things really matter?

Prayer:
O God of the big picture, teach me to see as you see.  Remind me when I get tripped up in the details that being faithful in my call to make disciples is what's important and that, in most cases, the end really does justify the means.  Amen.