God leads His people from barren howling waste to a place of utter fulfillment and luxury. Still waters, green pastures, a laid table with array of produce, honey, oil, milk, butter, fat, choicest meat, grain, wine. What more motivation do you need to follow a father/leader like this?
Is there a purpose to all the stories in the Bible? Is there a purpose to this all-engaging worship? Can faith not be done in an arms length arrangement? Can one not believe that there is a God without reading a book this God is supposed to have written through people, get to know a son he is supposed to have birthed through a virgin, and be among people alleged to be of like faith called the church – who largely have human failings?
As we walk and work before God, uploading His word and downloading His counsel and love, we experience the blessedness of the fruit of living under the shadow of God’s love. A people of faith and grace, building love in the work of our hands. Purpose is released from the network of love around us and the chain of love moving through us.
There are certain parts of the Bible that are generally accepted as places to be skipped. The unspoken consensus is that they are too dry to be studied. These are the data driven records of the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and the genealogies in the books of Chronicles. But that temptation not to study them or to skip them is a debilitating temptation. Do not yield to it. For it will so deprive you of one of your deepest sources of wealth.