As I look back on the last few months of posts, I’ve written a lot of words about many difficult subjects, from Biblical interpretation to sexism in the church, from religious tolerance to homosexuality.  This week, I’m feeling the need to return to a verse in the Bible that has resonated with me more than any other, for some reason.  It’s found in the Old Testament, in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 5, verse 2, and in my unauthorized “Eric Stillman Version” (ESV), it says this:

Do not be quick with your mouth or hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.  God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so SHUT UP.

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Do you ever wish God had been a little more clear about life and faith in the Bible?  I mean, there is a lot of material in the Bible, wouldn’t you say?  So why does it seem to leave so many questions unanswered?  Sometimes I think that if I were God, I could have done a better job putting together the most important book ever written.  I mean, did we really need 1&2 Chronicles AND 1&2 Kings, when they cover so much of the same material?  And what about Judges?  When was the last time anyone really read Judges and had a life-changing experience?  I think that if I had been in charge, I would have taken out Judges and replaced it with a much more important book – “How to Know my Will.”  And, with all the space I would have saved cutting out 1&2 Chronicles, I would have had room to include two other crucial books: “How to have a Perfect Marriage” and “How to Raise Perfect Children.” 

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I fell for it again.  I thought that by now I would be stronger, but apparently I wasn’t.  I mean, I’ve been prayed over, I’ve fasted, I’ve done everything short of putting on sackcloth and ashes, but there are still times I give in to my addiction.  Even though I knew in my head that it was all a lie, my heart apparently had not yet gotten the memo.  As hard as I tried to resist, I was sucked in like a ball of lint into the mouth of a toddler.
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