September 8: Of Robert de Niro, Oxen and Relationships

Isaiah 1:1-2:22

2 Corinthians 10:1-18

Psalm 52:1-9

Proverbs 22:26-27

So after reading the start of Isaiah, I wondered what I would have done had someone come ranting to me the way Isaiah does at the start of his book.  You know what came to mind?  Robert de Niro.  And no, not Robert de Niro in "Meet the Parents", but Bobby D in "Taxi Driver", where he has that iconic line - "you talkin' to me?"

See, that's what I might have said to Isaiah had he come at me with the language in today's OT reading.  I would have been a bit taken aback that someone would have the temerity to speak to me this way, and offended that someone would judge me that way.  After all, I'm the kind of guy who makes it to temple, who offers burnt offerings, who celebrates the festivals.  I go to church, I tithe, I confess my sins.  Are you sure "you talkin' to me?"

Sadly, he is.  He's reminding me of something very important: that God doesn't want me to transact with Him, He wants me to have a relationship with Him.  He doesn't want me going off on my own doing what I want during the week and trying to make it right with Him on Sundays and with tithes and offerings.  He wants a relationship, He wants me to get to know Him.

And why is that?  Because (and I have mentioned this before) knowledge is transformational.  The knowledge, the certainty of something, or of Someone, changes us, and does so from the inside.  We then take on His heart, and it shows in our actions, and even more so in the fruit of our actions.  

Father, when we are tempted to trade with You - You know, I get to do this if I go to church and say four Our Fathers - have mercy on us, and remind us - gently, but firmly and clearly - how much happier we will be in relationship with You.  The push us along that path - with a cattle prod, if need be, so as "the ox knows its master, and the donkey its owner's manger", we may get to know You as well.