HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!!! May it be blessed for each of you.
I began my New Year this morning by reading the next chapters from my ongoing informal self-study of Isaiah and Deuteronomy. I decided I want to become more familiar with the Old Testament, since it does still occupy 2/3 of all the pages in the Bible. The verses that struck me today are in Isaiah, Chapter 28:
16-17 This, now, is what the sovereign Lord says: “I am placing in Zion a foundation that is firm and strong. In it I am putting a solid cornerstone on which is written the words, ‘Faith that is firm is also patient.’ Justice will be a measuring line for the foundation, and honesty will be its plumb line.” 24-25a No farmer goes on constantly plowing his fields and getting them ready for planting. Once he has prepared the soil, he plants the seeds.
Here is why I am meditating on this puzzle. As I stated in my intro, I am preparing to go to law school to work in International Human Rights. I’m also very scared about this, scared of failure, scared of going back to school at my age, etc. I was preparing to apply for Fall of 2008, until my LSAT (Law School Admission Score) came back about ten days ago. I had prepared rigorously for ten weeks but must have freaked out on test day, because I came back with a 155 which is about 8-10 points below my average practice test score. I decided to put off school for a year so I could re-test and do better. A higher score (in my previous, consistent average range) would put me in far better running for admissions and scholarships.
Is that an example of faith being patient, or of a farmer that plows and plows but never plants? Or is the farmer in the second passage actually referring to God, not humans? As I begin a new year of plowing I must consider this carefully. I have felt a need to prepare better spiritually before entering law school, so I can be strong to focus on what God would have me do vs. the temptations to go where the money is as many law graduates do. But am I really onto something or am I simply procrastinating?
It’s really kind of moot at this point, because it’s too late to apply for Fall 2008 now (I was cutting it close), but I’d like to get this straight in my heart.
Either way, there is important work to be done in 2008.
