August 10, 2026
Monday, August 10
In 2007, journalist AJ Jacobs wrote a book called The Year of Living Biblically. For an entire year, he devoted himself to living out every command in Scripture with complete obedience. Jacobs described himself as a secular Jew (his exact quote is “I’m a Jew in the same sense that Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant,” which is a great line) who wanted to get in touch with his spiritual side. So he let his beard grow out, since Leviticus says men should not trim the edges of their beards. He blew a shofar at the start of every month. He tithed ten percent of his income. He even stoned an adulterer, although the stones he used were only pebbles, and the adulterer, a man in his seventies, almost beat him up for it.
The book became a best seller. CBS even made a sitcom about it, which only ran 13 episodes and was apparently terrible (I never saw it). But it raises an important question: Why don’t I and other Christian men sport long, unkempt beards, fringes on the edges of our garments, and the Law literally tied to our wrists and foreheads? Why don’t we sacrifice a bull on God’s altar when we sin? For that matter, why do many of us (myself included) mow our yards on Saturdays, when Scripture commands to rest from all our labors on that day?
This is a serious issue that every Christian must deal with. I’ve had more than one unbeliever say to me: “You Christians are inconsistent. You’ll use the Bible to bash people whose lifestyles are different than yours, but you ignore when it says you should avoid wearing garments of mixed fibers, or to stone a rebellious son to death. You’re just picking and choosing the parts of the Bible that fit your agenda.” Are they right? Yes they are, but not in the way they think. We need desperately to start living biblically, but I don’t mean we should live like AJ Jacobs did. In order to understand what I’m talking about, we need to understand why God gave the Law to Israel in the first place.
This week, as we continue to explore the book of Exodus, we come to a monumental moment in Israel’s history: The day God gave them the Law. And we’ll see what it means for us, thousands of years later, to truly “live biblically.”
“Father, I believe every word of your Book is true, and that the best way for me to live is in obedience to its commands. This week, I pray that I would better understand where and how I’m falling short of obedience. And create in me a passion for holiness, in the name of Jesus, amen.”
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
