This week on Geek Devotions, Celeste takes some time to talk about our Backlog Golf event happening on our discord server AND the most important backlog book in your library….
So as some of you know, we are running a game of backlog golf for our book Backlog in the devoted geek discord server. In recent years, Backlog Golf has become a way for people to have fun with being intentional about playing games, watching movies, or reading books that they already own. Because we all know we have at least one of these things, if not all of them.
When I talked to Dallas about today’s devotion, I told him I was thinking about doing it on BLG and how we should always consider scripture to be part of our daily lives as Christians. He reminded me of a story in scripture where the Jewish people were reminded of what equates to be the most essential Backlog that ever was.
See what was happening: Israel had been in captivity for a long time, this time to the Babylonians. The majority of the people had not been to the promised land. And as a result, they hadn’t read the law… An entire generation grew up without reading the law, without understanding the why behind what their parents taught them was right. So amid this, Nehemiah and Ezra get permission to return to Jerusalem. Nehemiah rebuilds the wall, the temple is rebuilt, and mind you all on the Babylonians dime. When they finish all of this up, they have a day where they gather everyone. They have Ezra on a podium and multiple people throughout the crowd that was part of the tribe of Levi, and Ezra read the law. For the first time in this generation’s lives, they heard the word of God, and because of the Levites in the crowd, they understood it. It says in Nehemiah 8:8
Nehemiah 8:8 ESV
“They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. “
It goes on to say that the crowds began to weep and repent. Because they understood the word of God and had been living against it. An entire generation in revival, turning back to God.
Now we today have an advantage that the nation of Israel didn’t have. We have access to the word of God quickly. That may change one day, but as of right now in America, we can quickly get a version of the scriptures and a version that words things in a way we understand. So this week’s devotion is a challenge. Have you been reading your Bible daily or at least a few times a week? Or have you allowed your Bible to become part of your Backlog? And when you read, do you attempt to understand what was happening in the timeframe, or do you apply it to your own situation without considering how it was supposed to be intended?