that is all…

Strangle title, huh? I wasn’t reading about circumcision, actually, I was reading about our hearts. Strange how God pairs these two things together, but He does so in both the Old and New Testaments.

Biblical Context
The context is important because the promise is after a list of blessings (and what happens if you try to take advantage them, but defile God in your heart). Note: promises and blessings are biblically two different things… but that’s for another day 😉

Deuteronomy 30:6
“The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.”

Covenant-Circumcision
According to Easton’s 1897 Biblical Dictionary:
“covenant” is: a contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is a “cutting.”

The symbolic separation of His people the Israelites from the rest, setting them aside, making a covenant with them bound in blood that required a transaction and a cutting, is physically manifested in this “cutting” or circumcision of the body. Then all who saw them would know that they had changed something in a rather substantial way as a sign of a much deeper covenant bond.

New Testament References
Romans 2:29b:
“…And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit…” Along with 1 Corinthians 7 and Romans 4.

Other Old Testament References
Genesis 17:10, Deut 10:17, Josh 5:2-8 among many others.

What does this have to do with me?
We (Gentiles) are included in this promise for two reasons:
1-We are Abraham’s children
Romans 4:11b, 16b “….So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith….Abraham is the father of all who believe.”
2-Abraham’s promise is our promise, honored by God
Galatians 3:29 “And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.”

The point is–returning back to the original verse, Deut 30:6–we have this image of cutting off the extra, removing what is not necessary, preparing to make something clean–even if pain is initially involved. It will hurt. But it will heal. We cannot do this ourselves. But God promises that He will do it for us. And in doing so, we will be more able to obey, serve, and most importantly love with both our spiritual and emotional beings. And the ultimate promise that gives us most hope: we may truly live. It’s not a means to an end, nor is it the end in and of itself. We will reap the benefits of the process–letting God teach us, prune us, mold us into loving with our whole heart and whole soul–but in the end, we will experience LIFE. That’s what it’s all about and why He came: “I have come that they might have LIFE and life abundantly!” (John 10:10b).

As we enter this new year, I’m counting on that promise: that God will circumcise my heart (even if it hurts) so that I will love Him with wild abandon and so that I will truly live. Amen!

I was really dreading coming in today because I was afraid it would disturb the immensely wonderful daydream-like quality of having snow everywhere and might put a damper on enjoying the snow. It’s been quite the opposite! Coming in, braving the roads, falling into the work routine (breakfast, coffee, email, music, spreadsheets) has actually been really therapeutic–what is happening to me?? I love being alone. I love being in our apartment. I love staying in, cuddling up with blankets, watching movies and napping the day away. But it has been a nice change of pace to get dressed, come in, and have a bit of space of my own. A little solitude away from the solitude of home (if that makes sense). And using my brain again (other than in board games, books, and sudoku).

This snow has also brought with it some perspective. People seem to bond together in the midst of a (weather) “crisis”. There must be some connection we can make between the camaraderie and unwarranted neighborly love that we’ve all experienced over the past few days. Is it that sometimes God allows (or even brings about) hard or difficult circumstances so that we can reach out (outside of ourselves and our often self-centered world) to human connection? Could it be that God notices the friendships (albeit some short-lived) and finds solace in the fellowship that can happen when His kids gather together–whatever the reason–and He thinks, this is good. I wonder…

We’ve met more people, helped more neighbors, walked through more doors, spent more time outside, and have interacted warmly more with strangers over the snowpocalypse than we have since we moved in… A bit of perspective while at work and play in the snow. I am so grateful that God provides us every opportunity to see more of Him in every circumstance here on earth.

So… it’s 1.1.11, which is fun in and of itself! but we have also enjoyed two days of SNOW and non-work this week, which is awesome! So far: 2011 rocks.

We spent the first snow day sleeping in and playing in the snow with Frank and Cara and two new apartment friends, Drew and Lauren. Then we ate, then we napped–serious nappage… like, college style. It was amazing and much needed. Then watched movies and caught up on good books and quality time. Evan’s friend Ryan got stranded and spent the night with us, which was like a huge slumber party. Very fun. And of course, we watched the national championship with all of the above at Drew and Lauren’s. I will not talk about that here, except to mention that Alabama has 13. Moving on.

Today we slept even later (11am, I love you), walked to North River Tavern–which we were delighted to discover has huge wings and overall amazing food. Totally going back. We left so full of food and fellowship (and interaction with civilization after 24 hours of cabin fever) we felt almost tipsy and braved the elements again for the trek home. We have LOVED netflix all afternoon and after pizza for dinner, will probably watch a movie and go to bed early. My goodness, 2011 is off to an excellent start!

So…!! We’re headed to Ireland, Scotland, and England in May! It’s official. We bought our tickets yesterday: May 18-30. My cousin Alice will be studying abroad in Limerick, Ireland starting… well, any day now! and so her parents, my parents, Stahler, me and Grant will be joining her for a few days before Grant and I strike out on our own. We’ve found a couple day-trips in Scotland and hope to see Glasgow, Loch Ness, Glencoe, Inverness, Stirling, and the Highlands. Grant wants to see St. Andrews Old Course and if we can make it to Edinboro even better! In England we hope to see friends in London and Oxford and take a day trip to Windsor, Bath, and Stonehenge. We’re pretty excited! We got a bunch of travel books for Christmas, so we spend nights pouring over the pictures and maps figuring out what we want to do–pretty crazy nights, huh? We enjoy it. Anyway, I’ll keep you posted as we plan the trip!