Dog Doo and Pepé Le Pew

Last time we explored this fact; to completely understand God is impossible. While this is true, God has revealed Himself to us in ways we can understand. We may have to take some of his explanations on faith, but God hasn't kept Himself completely hidden from us. In Exodus 34:6-7 God actually describes himself to Moses, 

"And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'"

In these next few posts I want to look at these character traits of God; who He is by His own words. But today I want to look at all these together and combine them into one idea; holiness.

Holmes and the Ant

I love knowing stuff. My mind has no problem remembering strange minutia and facts that are often of little value. Along with that, I love puzzles, but only puzzles I can figure out. Nothing is more infuriating to me than to get stuck on some kind of logic problem or mental trick and having to admit defeat. I guess it is in my genes to want to figure everything out. If that's not possible, I want to at least have more figured out than the next guy. I know it's not the healthiest attitude, but at least I'm aware of it.

I bring all this up to tie it in with one of my favorite fictional characters as a teenager. Sherlock Holmes was always interesting to read. I loved how he could take a seemingly trivial item or observation and turn it around to solve a major case, or at least make a break in it. Most of these were simple deductions that he would make concerning a scuff on a shoe and a stain on a sole. As long as the knowledge flowed in an understandable manner I was OK. However, it used to infuriate me when he would make leaps that weren't in the story line. I would get uninterested quick. Not because it wasn't explained at some point, but because I wanted to be in "the know". Does this sound like you?

Buffet

I was a picky eater as a kid...okay, I'm still a picky eater but not near as bad. My  two biggest problems were, and are, the textures of food and foods being mixed together. I like the peas and carrots, and I can stomach the corn but don't mix them together! Because of these aversions I used to love it when we would go to a buffet style restaraunt. I could get whatever I wanted as long as I sampled from each of the food groups. I would load up on mashed potatoes and the pudding that was always by the salad. Throw some ham and green beans on the side and I was doing great; no vegetable soup and especially no creamed beef (it's hard to even type that). Now, as a kid, you can claim ignorance of nutritional needs but as an adult you know what your body needs. There are foods that don't help our body. There are some foods you should never eat even though those often taste the best. This brings us to the second hurdle most people face when presented with Jesus and we'll call it "The Buffet".