Tim Boyd's Blog

When I get upset or disillusioned with someone I start to make them a monster in my thoughts.  I make huge terrible assumptions about them based on tiny observations and presumed observations I have of them.  Likewise, when I start to get to know someone I start to assume all kinds of great things about them.  Therefore, when they finally make one mistake I start to loathe my devotion to them.  (Don't act like you don't relate!  In fact, if you don't relate to that then you may be blind to your ability to do that too.) Hmmm.... Looks like the problem lies with me.  I like to try and make connections.  That's probably why I love preaching and reading the Bible so much.  There is so much information and it is incredibly interconnected.  Verses, stories, and teachings from the New Testament are generally rooted in a few Old Testament stories, teachings, or commentary.  The problem comes when I start to use my "connection-making ability"...

I got an iPhone last December and I installed Logos Bible Software on it.  I was looking through it and found a “read the Bible in a year” feature.  I thought it would be neat to say that I have read the entire Bible on a phone.  I am now somewhere in Numbers.  It has been fun and it’s a great way to stay on top of my personal Bible reading.  Now what actually matters to this particular post.  In the course of reading the Bible for no other purpose than to simply apply it to my life, I ran across this gem in Exodus 23:29-30. “I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you.  Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.” The second half of Exodus chapter 23 is a really good read.  God is informing the Israelites just how He intends to drive out their enemies so that they may take the good land that God has promised...