You know how the Old Testament is a part of the bible but it often gets neglected like it's there but people skip past it to get Psalms that kinda thing. You know which books I mean too Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (yes they're in the correct order) the ones that have long lists... half of Genesis is names that I can't pronounce, so when I read them I spend far more time thinking about proper pronunciation than the lineage that's being laid out before me. What I mean to say is that I rarely hear someone tell me that they were reading Genesis the other day and they were amazed because people aren't just reading Genesis anymore but I'm here to announce that we need to bring it back. Kick it old school. Technically that would be kicking it Old Testament. (If you can tell me what movie I just quoted WITHOUT googling it I'll bake you cupcakes)
**Sidenote** I honestly wish that my life was filled with more moments like this: someone would say to me, "you know what I read in the bible today?" and then they would proceed to tell me about the amazing thing they learned in scripture. **End Sidenote**
But I've been reading Genesis lately and... I'm a little obsessed. I can't get enough of it. At some point in my life I've heard all of these stories but it's like I've never HEARD any of these stories, they're wild. For example: In chapter 17 God changes Abram's name to Abraham. That's it he just changes it right there in verse 5. God is all "no longer will you be called Abram, your name will be Abraham" and shazam God gives him a new identity as the father of a nation. Just like that he's no longer who he was and gave him a new "calling." Whatever Abram had planned for his life didn't even exist anymore, his goals, aspirations, desires, all gone because Abram didn't exist anymore. Wild.
Wouldn't it be great if all of us of could just have new names when one part of our lives was over? When we're done living in the mistakes we made when we were 17, when that one incident our freshman year of college no longer commands how we feel about ourselves, or when we're done believing the lies and letting cynicism control the way we interact with the world? What if when God came in and freed us from all the junk we got a new name? 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "If any man is in Christ he is a new creation the old has gone the new has come." But man wouldn't it be so much easier to believe that we are new creations in Christ, when we accept him if we got new names when we did it? It would be like the FBI witness protection program but better it'd be the God protection program.
Think about life. You are free! Go Ahead figuratively or actually(because that's really bold and I'll support you) declare a new name for yourself God already has.
more to come Genesis is too good to not blog about.
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