Am I Lazy?

     Are we lazy?  Before you answer that question, I am guessing that most of us would prefer not to see ourselves that way.  I know that I consider myself to be a highly productive person most of the time.  This morning the Holy Spirit showed me another vision of myself that I had not been willing or able to see.  Let me give you an example.  Before completing this article, please grab your Bible and read Ezekiel 40-42.  Go!

     So you’re back with questions?  Or is there another emotion you are experiencing?  Did you enjoy that vision?  Did you get out a piece of paper and pen and begin drawing a visual aid?  Or are you upset that I sent you on a wild goose chase to a portion of Scripture you would prefer not to read?  Did your mind glaze, or your vision blur?  Did you find yourself reading faster and faster, looking for keywords that shift from the monotonous description to some better content?  Do you feel guilty?  Or are you miffed?  Does this illustrate reveal how we sometimes read God’s Word?  Is this a more common experience than you would like to admit?  Do you find yourself reading words, but not gathering the reason why those words have been included in the Holy Scriptures?  Do you seek aids to help you understand? 

     Now I would have to admit, that I have bombarded you with a ton of questions, but hopefully it will show that our human nature is lazy toward God.  Think about Noah who was given specific specifications for the ark.  Noah had to pay attention to the detailed blueprint that God had provided.  If Noah had been lazy, would he have created a boat that would have served he and his families needs during the world-wide cataclysmic event.  Would he have survived?  We can thank Ken Ham, who has created a visual theme park to help us see what is challenging to comprehend.  Who goes to such great lengths to help others see a more realistic picture?  Sometimes we only let our imaginations tell us the story.  
     Think about the design specifications for the tabernacle, the size, the materials, the layout, the function for each part, and the implements that were included like the lampstand, the altar, the ark of the covenant.  Each had a design, each had a function.  If you are like me, we tend to be lazy in our visualizations.  However, thank goodness for some who are willing to uncover what is hidden to our sight.  God is detail-oriented.  Think about Solomon’s temple and the description not only of the materials he procured, the labor he organized and the vision that produced the temple located over the threshing floor on Temple Mount.  What do we miss when unwilling to dig?
     Now today, if you followed through with my request to read Ezekiel 40-42, you’ve just been introduced to temple plans that were given to Ezekiel.  Granted watching this unfold from a blueprint to a 3-D model in an IMAX theater would have been far easier to understand.  Today I recognized that I’ve placed limitations on the distance I’m willing to travel to comprehend God’s nature and interest in humanity.  As I read these three-chapter, I caught myself thinking, ‘Oh man, Ezekiel, I’m glad you got this assignment and not me.  It must have been great to be privy to such details, and I am so glad God showed you with a visual aid what he wanted you to see and describe.’  God knew that His servant would follow through and write a detailed description for the house of Israel as He had requested him to do.  Why might God want us to comprehend that His hands are in the details?  Do we miss an important assignment from God because He knows we will not completely follow-through?

     I am trying very hard not to be a lazy Bible reader, but this morning I met my match as the Holy Spirit wished to reveal the reality that I am.  Convicted by His Spirit, I decided to search the internet for illustrations where other more-inclined readers were willing to sketch a replica of what they read.  What a blessing I discovered where someone decided to lay Ezekiel 40-42 side-by-side with Revelations 21 (which was another passage I was assigned to read).  Here is what they uncovered. 

Ezekiel’s Vision (Ezekiel 40-42)	John’s Vision (Rev. 21)
He saw a temple within the City.	He saw New Jerusalem
Ezekiel was taken to a very high mountain to observe (Ezek. 40:2)	John is carried by the Spirit to a great and high mountain (Rev. 21:10)
A man uses a rod to measure the dimensions of the temple (Ezek. 40:5)	An angel measures the city with a rod. (Rev. 21:15-17)
The entire temple area is a perfect square (Ezek. 420:15-20)	The entire city is a perfect cube (Rev. 21:16)

     Looking at Internet images as I ‘googled’ Ezekiel’s temple vision, revealed that many artists had put their hand at creating visual prints for our understanding.  I wanted to see an artistic rendition of New Jerusalem after reading John’s description in Revelation 21.  It helps when we read Scriptures together because what one sees another might not.  In Matthew 13:43 we read, “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears, let him hear.”  New Jerusalem (heaven) is the location to which we set our hearts.  Can you visualize it?  In Revelation 21:16–17 (ESV), we see, “The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal.  He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement.”  A stadia is 607 feet, so 12,000 stadia are 7.3 million feet which convert to approximately 1,400 miles.  The King James Version uses a measurement of furlongs which translates to about 1,500 miles. That only describes one surface.  To get the area within the cube you multiply length times width which reveals 1,960,000 square miles (1400 x 1400) measured in stadia. Or 2,250,000 square miles measured in furlong.   The diameter of the sun is estimated as 864,938 miles, and considering the temperature, it is utterly uninhabitable by humankind.  But if we could inhabit the sun, we would live on the surface, as we do on earth.  New Jerusalem described as a cube gives me the impression we will live within it, not on its surface.  If I weren't lazy I’m sure I could find Scriptural support for my reasoning.  So it is fair to say, we will have a future dwelling place that God has prepared for us, that is huge.  It is far more extensive than I have ever envisioned.

     God is detail-oriented, through His Holy Word; He wants us to be amazed.  Are we?  Today I’ve been convicted of laziness.  Possibly this is to understand that God measures productivity differently.