Wednesday, April 16, 2008

8 miles of warmth

Running today was fun, I was hot! It was 5:40 when I left home and it was already a little warm out. The sun had also begun to rise already and I didn't spend really any time in the dark. I ran my big loop twice and around the neighborhood for the other two miles.
During my run today I listened to Jars of Clay and Michael W. Smith. That was good inspiration during my run, but I got to thinking about what I have been reading lately. I was thinking about the trials Jesus went through as he was beginning his ministry. As I am reading through Matthew I am getting to learn a lot of things that Jesus went through. I knew of the Pharasees and that they were pretty influential during that time, but I didn't know their real role. They were not cool guys. All they seemed to care about is following the laws so closely and nothing else. I don't think that I would be motivated to follow someone like that. I compare them to the people you hear about in neighborhood associations that go around and check to see if your house meets the neighborhood bylaws. They go around checking to make sure that your mail box is at the appropriate height, they see that your lawn is cut and your bushes are trimmed. They make sure that your house looks good and if not you end up getting a letter saying that your house is not up to code. I think of these people as ones that need a life. I say that is right in line with how the Pharasees were. They were just waiting for Jesus to make a mistake so that they would have a reason to arrest Him and to eventually try to kill Him.
Imagine if the Pharasees really did listen to Jesus' teachings. The Jewish religion would look much different. As would so many other things in this world (WWII). It would be interesting to see our world today if they had paid more attention to Jesus and accepted what he was saying.

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