Pick and Choose

I am trudging my way through the Old Testament these days, and after reading Genesis, Exodus, etc. many times in an effort to stick with some year-long Bible reading plan, I've jumped right into Samuel. As I read, I try to pick apart the scripture, do a close reading of sorts, and this system is working much better than it usually does, in regards to the OT (the New Testament lends itself more easily to perusal). So my tactic now is to read these books like stories, complete with realistic characters who rise and fall, who sin and live.

It's very difficult to look at these men (and some women) as examples, as their lives are unavoidably compared to Jesus's, so thus I think that they are supreme losers and don't deserve my attention. But it isn't that simple.

What I've found in Samuel thus far is a woman who gave up everything to serve God (Hannah), an unfledging servant of the Lord who sticks to his guns when everyone is doing the opposite (Samuel) and a constant familial setting that is always morphing and changing, but nonetheless offering a social structure that makes every one of its members relatable and understandable.

Once I got passed looking for the Ultimate Truth or some unblemished Israeli warrior and just took these people for who they are, their world and lives came alive for me. I see myself in them, I see in their leaders surrogate mentors, and most importantly I see God working in the lives of these servants, just as He works in my life. This stuff is water, and my spirit is a desert aching to be filled.