What is God doing for you today?

This weeks Torah portion

Ki Tisa - כי תשא : "When you take"
Torah : Exodus 30:11-34:35
Haftarah : 1 Kings 18:1-39
Gospel : Mark 13-14

We find it all too easy to go from being spiritually high to plummeting into sin and disobedience when the buzz wears off—and it always wears off. Part of the solution is to quit looking for spiritual buzzes. A traveler who is always charging up mountaintops and then sliding down into valleys will not get very far. If he wants to achieve real progress, he needs to stay on the level ridge routes, avoiding the peaks and the dips. We need to work on the simple, day-to-day disciplines of faith. (Thought for the Week: from First Fruits of Zion)

The people of Israel had just seen God do wonderful things for them.  God rescued them from being slaves in Egypt and parted the Red Sea and brought them to the mountain where He spoke to them.  The children of Israel had been pumped up by what God had done. Then the daily routines of life set in and they most likely became complacent with what God had done for them.  Maybe while Moses was up on the mountain talking to God the children wanted an instant touch from God instead of having to wait for Mosses to come back down.  This may be why they jumped on Aaron to do something for them.  They just wanted that high feeling of God’s greatness again in their lives. 

 It reminds me of going to youth church camp and being all pumped up by what God had done in my life during the week.  Whatever it may have been I knew for sure that God was real and was working in my life.  Then I would get home from camp and find others around me not so happy as I was and not realizing what God had done for me and even though I would tell them they just didn’t seem to get it.  Life would soon return to normal and the pumpedness of camp would wear off and then I would seem to be in a valley.  There I would find forgetfulness and boredom and fell kinda spiritually lost.  After soon time of this behavior something would come along and remind me of camp and the greatness that I found there and then I would start to look for the greatness of God and not being able to find it around me, that is in my friends or even my church I would run around and look for something great many times jumping out ahead of what God wanted for me which would leave me out of God’s will and not focusing on Him.  The real issue was that I was not reading my Bible daily and praying daily and building my relationship with God. I was going on past experiences and letting those push me along for a rush.  The truth is that if we spend time with God, all the time then we won’t need to have a rush or a pick me up to make us feel like we are truly being touched or blessed by God.  He is there all the time touching us and blessing us all day long, everyday.  Yes there are times when cool things happen that are outside of the everyday stuff of life and we just know that God is doing something big, and there are times when we get down and need to know that God is with us but if we are consistent with out daily time we spend with God then we won’t end up like the children of Israel looking for the next big thing that God is going to do in our lives.

This weeks teaching from the Torah portion is a great reminder to not jump ahead of what God is doing in our daily lives. Often we want to move faster than what God seems to be doing for us.  We need to remember to just wait on Him and let Him work on us.

 

Weekly Drash from First Fruits of Zion

http://ffoz.org/resources/edrash/ki_tisa/tabernacle_vs_golden_calf.php

from First Fruits of Zion:

Tabernacle vs. Golden Calf 

Commentary:

Aaron said to them, "Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." (Exodus 32:2)

When we attempt to "do religion" without first consulting God's instructions, we end up with golden calves. The Torah tells the story of the golden calf in juxtaposition to the instructions for the building of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle represents God's way of doing spirituality. The golden calf represents man's way of doing spirituality. God and Israel were both striving for the same end: they were each attempting to create a medium whereby Israel could worship God and celebrate their relationship with Him. Their methods of accomplishing that end were very different, though.

The golden calf was a poor substitute for the glory of the Tabernacle. The Torah tells about the work of making the golden calf to contrast it against the work of the Tabernacle.

Aaron did not know that God had chosen to make him the high priest over Israel. When the people asked him to make an idol for them, he took the role of priesthood himself. If he had waited for Moses to return, he would have learned that God had chosen to install him as a priest in the Tabernacle.

The people did not know that God had ordered them to raise a contribution of gold and precious materials for the building of the Tabernacle. If they had waited, Moses would have told them. Instead, Aaron told them to donate the gold of their jewelry for the idol.

The people were to fashion the furnishings of the Tabernacle of gold. Instead, Aaron fashioned the idol "with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf" (Exodus 32:4). The people were to build a bronze altar for burnt offerings and a golden altar for incense. Instead, we read that "he built an altar" (Exodus 32:5) for the idol. The people were to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar in the Tabernacle. Instead, we read that the people "offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings" (Exodus 32:6) to the idol. The Tabernacle was to be a resting place of God's divine, invisible presence. Instead, the people made a visible, idolatrous representation of God. All the things that Israel desired, God had already planned to give them.

A girl from a poor farmer's family was ready to be married. Her father promised to find a match for her. He set out for a distant city to find a suitable fellow. In his absence, she grew impatient. She was lonely, and she felt that she needed someone to provide for her. Rather than wait for her father to return, she married the crass and ignorant son of a local farmer. The day after the wedding, her father returned with the match he had found: a wealthy, handsome, and well-educated young noble. Imagine the girl's shame and disappointment.

Patience really is a virtue. It is always better to wait on God.

Be sure to visit the link below for the weekly drash.  Scroll to the bottom of the page to “Also from this weeks portion to read more about 

Ki Tisa - כי תשא : "When you take"
Torah : Exodus 30:11-34:35

http://ffoz.org/resources/edrash/ki_tisa/