The blowing of my mind.

So, earlier tonight I determined to spend some face time with God before bed (something I've been neglecting lately):  a little worship and prayer and Bible reading.  Historically I've been really bad at sticking to a reading plan, so I was mainly flipping idly around in the Old Testament.  I have no idea why I landed in the middle of Joshua 22, but I started reading from the middle of the chapter and almost immediately saw this verse:

"If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the LORD's land, where the LORD's tabernacle stands, and share the land with us."  (Joshua 22:19) 

Even without the context (Most of the tribes of Israel are speaking to a couple fo the other tribes, who were allotted land on the other side of the Jordan River outside Canaan and built an altar where they weren't supposed to), this verse really struck me.  This very thing that the people of Israel are doing is what we as believers and Christ-followers are supposed to do.  We're supposed to call people out of the "defiled land" where they live, and invite them to share int he Kingdom of God and His glory and His presence.  SO CRAZY.  As in, so incredible, and fantastic, and a bit frightening (I mean, shoot, that's a pretty prestigious responsibility).  We're supposed to tell people how good we've got it as citizens of the Kingdom, and invite them to share in that.  It makes me want to pray my face off.

This was encouraging to me for the reason that, basically, I generally don't care a whole lot for Bible reading.  I don't hate it, but it's awfully rare for me to get excited about it, either.  I've read everything in the Bible before, some of it dozens and dozens of times.  And it's hard not to go into it with that mindset.  I so often can read it and praise God for who He is, but I virtually never feel like I get anything new out of it or feel like I've learned something.  I don't have fresh eyes for the Bible.  This encounter was interesting because, for one, I honestly don't really recall this story, so it was sort of new in that way, but mainly because if I had read that chapter straight through and read that verse in all its context, I would probably never have taken particular note of it.  I would never have taken ten minutes to be totally floored by God and what it means to be a Christian.  I feel like God was sort of saying, "Even though your heart is only half in this, since you're deliberately seeking Me and even sacrificing some sleep to do it, I am going to give you a totally new experience and have fun watching you have fun getting your mind blown."

God is so good, and holy, and brain-boggling.

And that's one verse out of context!  How much more could you find in this whole passage by reading it normally? My mind's now doubly blown, because even though i've been told countless times that God;s word is multilayered, I never really give that much thought or ask or seek to experience that.  i wish I always felt as excited and curious about the Bible as I do now.  (Don't think I haven't prayed about that.)  It would be so much harder to get disillusioned so quickly.  The Bible is amazing—why don't I experience it like it is more often?