Isaiah 3
We hear a lot (especially in the church) about the reality of God’s acceptance. God accepts you as you are. God loves you as you are. And yes He does. There is no doubt about it! There is nothing we can do to earn His love; we already have it. But it is a fallacy to believe that God wants to leave us the way He finds us. It is because He loves us that He wants to change our hearts and lives for the better. As Max Lucado wrote in the extended title of his 1998 book, “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be… just like Jesus.”
Psalm 118
My oldest daughter is almost nine years old, and these days, you really can’t have “the talk” too soon. Our culture has become so sexualized that, in some ways, it seems like we’ve been having bits of “the talk” for a long time already, but her father and I are going to have to start doing some more formal educating very soon. So all the related issues are weighing on my mind—sex, birth control, abstinence, abortion, etc. There are so many warped ideas advanced by society that it’s hard to know where to begin. I mean, to even talk about abstinence until marriage nowadays makes you seem backward and ridiculous. Sometimes, it seems a lot of people would rather find ways to mitigate consequences so our young people can just do “what feels good.”
Psalm 91
I read a blog online some time back that, frankly, made me a little sick. The author wrote about how he and his wife—in an effort to spice things up in their marriage—pursued a trail of endless drugs and multiple sexual partners… only to be left empty, loveless, and divorced. So sad! The author concluded by saying that while his wife often said that “More is more,” it didn’t turn out to be true when it came to sex.
Psalm 2
Once again, two types of people are contrasted in this psalm—those who submit to the Lord’s authority and those who do not. The ones who do not are those who have come to believe that submission to God is akin to slavery: “‘Let us break their chains,’ they cry, ’and free ourselves from slavery to God.’” (vs 3)
Nehemiah 10
So, the people had returned from exile. They had rebuilt the temple and the Jerusalem wall. They had heard the law proclaimed from the temple steps and been appalled that they had fallen so far from God’s ideal. They resolved to do better. And so they entered into a covenant, a signed contract with God. They promised to obey everything God had asked them to do:
Nehemiah 8
Ah, the law. The one topic that is the time-honored whipping boy of Christianity. Is the law still in effect? Was it nailed to the cross? Done away with? Is there a difference between law and grace? And what does "law" mean? Are we talking about the Ten Commandments? The Mosaic Law? The Law of Love as defined by Jesus in Matthew 22:36-40?
2 Chronicles 34
Once again, a king in Judah (Josiah, this time) was trying to reform the spiritual state of the nation. After years of idol worship and evil-doing kings (with little respite in between), here was a king who was determined to seek God and do things His way. And in the process of restoring the temple, the chief priest found the Book of the Law. Apparently, it had been lost—either accidentally or intentionally. Either way, when Josiah heard what was in the Book of the Law, he was quite distraught. He tore his robes and wept.
2 Chronicles 30
After Hezekiah repaired the temple, he called the Israelites together to celebrate the Passover—something that hadn’t been done for a long, long time. It was a grand celebration—with music and feasting and thousands of sacrifices. The people were having such a great time that, at the end of the prescribed seven days, they decided to extend the celebration for another seven days. There was one slight problem, however: "Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, 'May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.' And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people." (vs 18-20)
Photo © Unsplash/Niko Manuelides
What does it matter
if the thief
kills your sheep
or it's found alive?
Why should
a sheep that has vanished
be worth
twice as much
as one that's been repoed?
Maybe it's all about
God getting justice—
not so much for the victim
as for the perp.
For to sneakily get rid
of the trace of your crime
suggests a hardness
not known to the
heart with red hands,
one so inexperienced
as to be caught with the goods.
The harder heart
requires the harsher penalty
in order to
once again
fracture the hull.
Justice for the offended
is a foregone conclusion,
but recasting the offender's heart
is much more difficult
than replacing a sheep.
1 Kings 2
Throughout history, there’s probably been at least one thing that set a king apart from his subjects: He didn’t have to abide by the same rules as his fellow citizens. That’s one of the "perks" of people in power—they tend to be (or at least see themselves as) above the law. They aren’t held to the same standard as everyone else.
DEUTERONOMY 28
So, here we have a mega-extension of yesterday’s chapter and lesson about God—that He warns us of impending danger. I know I’ve read this chapter of Deuteronomy several times as I’ve made my way through the Bible in the past, but never have I been so struck by the description of what life is like when we disregard God’s law of love. It is bleak.
DEUTERONOMY 10
As I read this chapter, I couldn’t help but think about God’s government versus man-made governments. Specifically, three things were mentioned that brought this comparison to mind: citizen burden, corruption and greed, and treatment of the weakest in society. First, citizen burden: "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" (vs 12-13)
DEUTERONOMY 5
Before the Israelites went in to take possession of the Promised Land, Moses was determined to reiterate the law the Lord had given them. In fact, the very name of this book means a "second" (deutero) giving of the "law" (nomy). Remember, this was 40 years after God had originally given the law to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, and those who were now in Moses’s audience were either babies at that time or not yet born.
LEVITICUS 11
Having just gone through the Christmas season, I've been thinking a lot recently about how God meets us. In fact, when you consider the sinful history of mankind and God’s activity throughout the Bible, it is pretty much only Him coming to meet us. Not the other way around. If He didn’t come to where we were, we’d have no way to seek Him out.
EXODUS 20
As I read the Ten Commandments today — something I have surely done at least a hundred times in my life — I was struck by the raw heart of God, the eternal lover. Perhaps I was attuned to this because, just a couple of days ago, I mentioned the fact that God seems to desire a great deal of intimacy with us.
