“’When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed festivals, whoever enters by the north gate to worship is to go out the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate is to go out the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which they entered, but each is to go out the opposite gate.'”

Ezekiel 46:9 (NIV)

Sometimes I just have to laugh at myself. Today, when I read this verse in Ezekiel, I wondered why the people had to go in through one gate and leave by a different gate. Did it have to do with being double-minded? Perhaps it was about keeping one’s eye’s fixed on the Lord? I remember something about “straight paths for your feet…” I did what I usually do and asked the Lord and then checked other translations. They all were about the same, if you enter through the north gate you have to leave by the south and vice versa, so I reviewed some commentaries to see what they said.

As I was reading and listening to the Lord I thought about Monty Python and The Life of Brian. I’d like to take a moment and share this clip with you since it hits a nail right on the head.

As you can see from this scene, the man running, Brian, loses his sandal and doesn’t have time to pick it back up because of the crowd chasing him. The crowd, upon finding the lost sandal, comes up with all sorts of “spiritual” meanings as to why it was left behind. As you can see, some think it means one thing and others something else. One calls it a shoe and someone else a sandal. We, however, know that the sandal (or is it a shoe?) just fell off while Brian was running. While we might laugh at the behavior in this scene, it does bring up an issue with religion.

We know that everything happens for a reason but sometimes the things that happen just happen. We know that God is divine and trying to figure Him out is a mystery that no one is going to figure out. However, everything that happens isn’t a divine mystery and we have to be discerning and know when we’re over spiritualizing things. Perhaps you were late to church because there really was something that God was keeping you from or perhaps it was because you went to bed late, got up late, and forgot where you put your car keys?

I don’t know why we do this. Perhaps we’re not content with the commonplace and we want something “better?” Perhaps it’s an issue of pride. I do know that whenever we try and attach a spiritual reason to something we can miss out on the natural reason why, whatever it is, is. For example, in this verse from Ezekiel, God ordered the people to not leave from the same entrance that they came in to reduce the traffic from so many people. I know that God is the God of the amazing but He’s also logical, orderly, and sometimes, just the God of the ordinary.

Do you know God? God knows you and He loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, right now, and He wants you to know Him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so that we could be free of guilt, be freed from death, and live eternally with Him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.

Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation today:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.

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