1 Corinthians 10-16 + "40"

Man, Paul is one smart dude. Seriously, he could have been a ferocious professor of philosophy. Smart dudes make my head hurt sometimes, though. It may be a bit odd, but the passage that really stuck out to me was 10:1-4. Not because it rocked my world or anything, but because it is a rare poetic moment among Paul's mostly-intellectual writing style. It's actually kind of beautiful the way he sums up the story of Israel making their way to the promised land and connects it all to Jesus.

1 Corinthians 10:1-4 (ESV)

For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

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Also, I wanted to share this powerful little video I found on Marko's blog yesterday. It's 40 illustrations that represent Jesus' 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. It reminded me a bit of what many of us are going through with our various Lenten exercises (too a lesser degree most likely). Just remember, if during this time of sacrifice and extra time spent with God, you feel moments of joy, clarity, and peace mixed with moments of exhaustion, weakness, and temptation -- you're in GOOD company!