Had a very productive Well-balanced Wednesday today!

I ran 3 miles in under 26 minutes! Averaging 8'45" a mile - woop woop! Now that my marathon is over I'm loving these short runs.

Afterwards I headed over to Erin's where we did a 20 minute legs workout (yay me, doubling up on my physical activity today!) We did our bible study and then started a Christmas craft that I'm really excited about!


Our bible study today was on Rahab. What a powerful message she gives. Growing up I always knew her as the prostitute that hid the Isrealite spies at Jericho (not that I knew what a prostitute was growing up) and because of her good deed she saved herself and her family. But theres so much more to her and her story. I delved more into her life a few years ago when I read a book by Francine Rivers (see below) but as always, I gained new insight re-reading the scriptures involving Rahab's life this past week. Really, Rahab is trophy of grace that wasn't yet in the fold of Isreal, but she heard about the God of Isreal and all of the great things He had been doing and chose to believe. She had never seen or heard of the gods of her pagan culture doing anything, but she also had no knowledge of the Law like the Isrealites had for the One true God. But because she believed in God, before really "meeting" Him, she already cast her lot with His people. She discovered that just like He had protected Isreal, He would protect her as well. An interesting thought that this study pointed out, was how she responded to the spies initially. If you can just imagine these two spies sent to scope out the land, finding themselves in a home of a Harlot... a profession they clearly understood was wrong. Can you picture how nervous they might be? In a strange land, enemies surrounding, wondering if they could indeed conquer this walled city, and getting lodging from a woman whose morals are questionable... But she is so confident that the Lord has already given Jericho into their hands and has no hesitation in telling this to them. The spies then go back and tell Joshua. Think of the impact Rahab's faith had on these men and then on their leader! God used her faith to encourage Isreal to attack the city. The faith of a prostitute. God can always use our faith in someone else's life when we trust Him. Rahab also acted on her faith and when the spies told her to put the scarlet cord in the window in order to be saved, she did so immediately. As soon as they left. I think about all of the times I've been told to do something and how often I've waited until the last possible second to complete the task. What would have happened if Rahab had waited? Would she have gotten that scarlet cord out in time? She wasn't willing to take that chance and because she obeyed immediately she was saved and she also saved her family. She was eventually adopted into God's people where she "lived in the midst" and tradition holds that the man she married, Salmon, was actually one of the 2 spies who lodged with her. Salmon was a prince of the house of Judah, so not only did Rahab become a part of God's people but the pagan harlot married into one of the most prominent families in Isreal. ON TOP OF THAT, she is mentioned in Hebrews 11, the faith "hall of fame". AND ON TOP OF THAT, she is ancestor to Jesus Christ. One of Christ's great great great great (you get the picture) grandmothers was a prostitute. The way God takes a persons past, when that individual is open to receiving His grace, and uses it in amazing ways for His glory is, well not surprising, but definitely inspiring and humbling.

This is the book by Francine Rivers that I mentioned. It is part of her lineage of grace series that tells the story of the 5 women mentioned in Jesus lineage. It is fictional but based on history and truths from the bible. I'd highly recommend reading all of the books in this series.