Solitary Places

The journey to read through the bible in one year. One thought and one verse from every book and chapter of the bible…

Leviticus 26
Leviticus 26:18-19 “‘If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. ¹⁹ I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. 

In chapter 26 we find God speaking to the Israelites about rewards for obedience, and punishment for disobedience. This verse hit me hard. I often times dont listen to God. I blow off His commands, dont listen to the voice inside of me, and dont stop to even hear what He has to say. And so when I read this verse, it made me sad to think of all the things that I have missed out on by not listening, and reminded me how important this walk with Christ is. It is a daily commitment. A everyday call to take up our cross and follow. I dont listen because of my pride. I am too busy doing my own thing...that wont be an excuse that is good enough. God calls us to listen and obey. When we dont, we will face punishment. 


Leviticus 27
Leviticus 27:2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special vow...

A vow. A promise. This chapter speaks to making and keeping vows. We often times make promises and think nothing of it when we break or only partially keep something that we promised. Even in our marriages, with such a high number ending in divorce, we are trained to almost BREAK the promises that we make. Or least not worry about it if we do break it. But it wasnt that way with God at all. He took a vow that people made seriously. And He kept His promises! Think about how the story of scripture would have changed if God had forgotten His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob...the whole story of scripture would be radically different! We need to remember how important that it is to to keep the promises that we make to others and most importantly to God. It is not something that He takes lightly or just wants us to go half heartedly on. 

Mark 1
Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Jesus modeled and lived a life of prayer. He knew that what He was facing was going to be so strenuous and difficult at times, that He would need to be on His knees spending time with His Father. This morning, what stood out to me was the phrase solitary place. Our lives have so much noise in them...there is almost no such thing as silence anymore! And we DO face silence, we hate it! When was the last time that we went someplace, turned our phone off, put down the ipad or ipod and just spend time with Him? Not only do we not pray, but when/if we do pray we dont get to a solitary place. That isnt what Jesus modeled to and for us...

Mark 2 
Mark 2:17  On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

I love this verse! To this day, Jesus cares about hurting, sinful people! It is who He spent His time with...the people that He cared and was constantly connecting with. And it needs to be our passion as well. Lost, hurting people that need to know who He is and what He is about...

So far to date...
Books read: 4
Chapters Read: 147
Verses Read: 4661