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I’ve been reading every day for five days now. It’s a HUGE commitment, but my goal is fervent pursuit.

So this guy Joseph was one of twelve sons and he was sold into slavery and ended up ruling over most of Egypt. That’s the short version obviously, but the main thing that I remember about Joseph is that he suffered without complaining.

I’m going to be honest, working in the restaurant industry isn’t the easiest business to work in. It’s highly stressful to put on a smiling face to every person that walks through the front door and give them everything they want so they will give you money. (Oh WOW. I just read that back.)

Anyway. It’s pretty easy for stuff to go wrong. You forget to substitute some food, or make a drink, or bring extra items, or the kitchen doesn’t cook something fully, or whatever. If your customer isn’t happy, it can be stressful. You can imagine that will all the stress that might occur with a shift, a person may feel the need to vent their frustrations to someone. On totally NOT the same level, I think I can learn something from Joseph. I don’t have to get caught up in the complaining at work. I don’t have to show how frustrated I am when a customer says they ordered a large but really said small. I don’t have to be upset when my tip isn’t 20 percent. I can suffer in silence and show people, through my actions, that I am different.

That’s my prayer for every day I walk through those work doors. Those people are my flock. I may not be a shepherd, but I want to be a good example.

Today was a lot of history. Jacob and Esau and Joseph and others mixed in. But the very frist verse I read today stuck out to me.

And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, and Jehovah will be my God, then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. —Genesis 28:20-22

It might be the Techie in me, but I’m really having a hard time understanding something. I read, IF God is with me and does this, THEN I will do that. That seems backwards to me. I feel like I’m missing the meaning because I’m caught up in the semantics of words. I feel like the real meaning, at least to me, should be interpreted as: SINCE God is with me and does this, I WILL GLADLY do that. Every other translation that I look at says IF-THEN.

What thoughts come to your minds?

Today I read the first 16 chapter of Genesis. One verse that really stuck out,

“And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” —Genesis 1:4

God separated the light from the dark. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? I’m simply reminded of the amazing power that my God has. A power so amazing that he can separate light from dark.

And that’s awesome.

A little later I read,

“Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” —Genesis 15:6

The Lord credit Abram as being righteous for simply believing what he was told. Made me wonder if I truly believe the words that God has told me. Whether it’s words He places in my mind or words that I read in the Bible. Either way, do I really believe everything that He has promised me? Yes. Of course. But it’s hard for me to really comprehend that. God will never leave me or turn his back on me. He was always love me and pursue me even when I don’t pursue him. That he will forever stand at the door and knock in order to come in and sup with me.

Remember me talking about a fervent pursuit? Well, today I started Bible in 90.

<sidenote>
After I told the wifey, she had the GALL to say, “IN 90 DAYS! YOU CAN’T DO THAT!”

Thanks… Thanks a lot.

I know she was just kidding. I know it totally came out wrong. I know she just thought it was ridic to try and read it in 90 days. I just wanted to share the story ;)
</sidenote>

Well, a fervent pursuit is supposed to be INTENSE or FIERY or GREAT. So here I am.

One good thing, at least for me, is that it’s setup to send daily emails to people letting them know whether or not I completed that day’s reading. If you’d like to be apart of my accountability list, just get a free account on YouVersion and start “following me” (pretty much the same as Twitter following someone).

Small group tonight was pretty GREAT. I really enjoyed the time Amanda and I spent with the other people we do community with. We worshiped for a fair amount time, much more than normal, and then did a different spin on some lectio divina.

When asked to think about how I’m feeling lately: nervous.

To me, there are two way sto interpret someone that is nervous. One, a kind of happy and anxious nervous. Two, more of an uncomfortable, fearful nervous. Mine is the later. I feel a new season of life coming and it makes me uneasy. I don’t like saying that I feel uneasy about life. Why should I be? I have the God of the universe on my side. Nonetheless, I do.

While sharing a little bit about how I’m feeling, my buddy Joe mentioned that Jesus going to pray in the garden at Gethsemane popped into his head. I tried to look through the Gospels for scripture surrounding Jesus’ trip to The Mount of Olives that would speak to me about how I was feeling—I couldn’t really find anything. I started looking through 2 Timothy and found a verse in chapter 4:

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

I thought this verse was pretty spot on. What’s more is that I like it better read backwards with each semi-colon being a separate thought.

Anyway, after everyone shared and wrote down their verses we put all the verses in a bag and blindly picked out a card. Would God produce another verse for each person or help us see something else in another verse that we didn’t see in our own? I picked out Joe’s verse. Coincidence?

And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. Luke 22:40

Joe’s complete passage was verses 40 through 46, but verse 44 was probably the one that stuck out the most. While being in agony, Jesus prayed fervently. Fervent—exhibiting particular enthusiasm, zeal, conviction, or persistence.

My goal for the next day, or week, or month, or as long as I can: pursue fervently.