Devotional for friends // Devocional para as amigas

  It is so good when we learn something new, or realize something different about a thing that we thought we knew or understood well. This happens when we read the Bible with an open heart and mind, without any agenda. Or when we hear good people who dedicate their lives to studying the Scriptures. Well, I already knew about the image of God in relation to idolatry. But I learned something new today. Where? Listening to Tim Mackie and John Collins talking about the 10 Commandments in their Bible Project podcast. It is free if you are interested. The second command is about idolatry. The question they asked was, why is that such a huge deal to God? It is not just an idol that may replace God in our lives, or that we are giving our allegiance to something else; I think God just takes offense when we try to give Him a form of any kind, because we are, in fact, limiting Him. God cannot be contained in an image; He is unimaginable. Nothing that ...

  Reading 1 Samuel, one more time, I realized that we aren’t too different from the people of Israel. Let me explain why I am saying this. I am reading 1 Samuel, and I am at that part when they ask Samuel for a king. Why did they do that? Because they wanted to be like the nations around them. Let’s pause right here. How many times do we ask God for things for the same reason? God, I want this or that, because I don’t want to feel so different, so awkward, I want to have something in common with the people around me, and so on. Besides the greed, the envy, and the fear that are always hovering over our minds. We think that because we have something, we will have something else. Shouldn’t we be asking God to be instead of to have? God, I want to be more patient, more kind, I want to feel your grace, to see your power, glory, or whatever. Something more meaningful? Full of meanings? All these earthly things aren’t they all going to stay on...