I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day, or more. in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
I was going to write something about the wise always being willing to be corrected for their mistakes and the righteous always being grateful to those who show them their sins (and well, I guess I just did). However verse 10 in today’s Proverb’s passage needs to be quoted in full:
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom.
Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.
We do not truly start to acquire wisdom until we learn to fear God. As we learn to know God we develop the tools necessary to exercise good judgment.
The psalmist reminds us that the first step in serving the Lord (and thus having a healthy and happy life) is learning to control the words we say. He tells us to avoid speaking evil and telling lies. This is a necessary step to turning away from evil so as to do good. I love the way the psalmist couples those two things. It is not enough to turn away from evil, we must turn and do good. If we do what is right we will still face many troubles, but God will rescue us from those troubles. I will strive to avoid evil words and lies. Beyond that I will turn to doing what is good. God rest Your Holy Spirit upon me and show me how to serve You.
When I first read the beginning of this passage today, it struck me as a statement of great joy, which indeed it is. I do not know how to express the thought that went through my head as I read, “Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning,…” In part it made me want to go out early in the morning and worship God as the sun is just rising over the horizon at dawn. There is something inexplicably exciting about a new day dawning. I don’t often greet the day by worshiping God as the sun rises, but perhaps I should do so more often.
While my first reaction to this passage today was somewhat different than usual, my second thought was something I have often thought about when I read this passage. The women went to the tomb looking for Jesus, the angel told them, “He isn’t here.” How often do we go looking for Jesus in places where He no longer is? How often does God have to send us messengers to tell us, “He isn’t here.” The angel told the women to go to the disciples and tell them, “He is going ahead of you to Galilee.” That is God’s message to us. The place may not be Galilee (as a matter of fact, for most of us it isn’t), but Jesus is going ahead of us to the place where God wants us to go next. Let us always remember that, if we want to be with Jesus we need to go where God is sending us, because Jesus is already there waiting for us.
The passage concludes with the Great Commission. Many have commented on it and I doubt I can add any new insight to it (and I will not try). Jesus told His disciples to go. That meant that they had to leave their comfort zone and do some things that made them uncomfortable. We too need to leave our comfort zone and do some things that make us uncomfortable (that’s a tough one for me…even though, or maybe because, there is not a lot that makes me uncomfortable). He told them to make disciples. Disciple is closely related to the word discipline. We cannot be disciples if we do not have discipline. We cannot make disciples if we do not teach others to be disciplined.
I am not much for “ostentatious” decor, especially not in a place of worship. However, this passage is a reminder that there is a place for opulence. Under the right conditions such decor can inspire us to higher levels of awe towards God. This passage describes in some detail how beautiful and sumptuous the Tabernacle was. I have upon occasion entered places of worship which by their grandeur inspired worship of God. On the other hand, I have more often entered places that were supposed to be places of worship which, rather than inspire worship of God, inspired admiration for those who built them. Most of the time I find it easier to worship God some place that is built simply and humbly, but their are times and places for more grandeur and this passage reminds us of that.