For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
This proverb makes a very good point. You are the one who will benefit if you acquire wisdom, and you are the one who will suffer if you fail to do so. While the wisdom or foolishness of your actions may affect others, you are the one who will be affected the most. Each person will experience the consequences of their actions. If those actions were guided by wisdom, they will benefit. If those actions were foolish, they will suffer.
When we do good for and to those who oppose us, we can rely on the Lord to rescue us from their plots against us. We are called to grieve for their troubles and do what we can to ease their suffering. It is not for us to attempt to repay them for the evil they do us. God will rescue the helpless from the strong. If we seek always to show God’s love, God will give us victory and send shame and disgrace to those who attack us.
I had never noticed that John the Baptist only baptized people after they had confessed their sins. I don’t think this was a generic confession, “Yes, I am a sinner.” I think it was more specific. Things like, “I committed adultery,” or “I stole from others,” and probably even more specific than that. Do we practice confessing our sins to others? Should we? I believe that the answer is “Yes” and that I do so less than I should.
I do not think I have commented on the fact that the Gospel of Mark is quick hitting. He quickly recounts an episode from Jesus’ life, then moves on to the next. In today’s passage we have John’s ministry, Jesus’ baptism, the calling of the first disciples, and teaching with authority. The other one of these stories I am going to touch on is the calling of the first disciples.
When Jesus called Peter and Andrew to follow Him, they left their nets at once and followed. Now, we know from the Gospel of John that their first exposure to Jesus was in Judah, right after He was baptized by John. So, this is not about our first response to Jesus. This story is about our response when God calls us to the ministry He has for us. Are we prepared to drop what we are doing and follow Him? This is a challenge for me, largely because I have felt a call from God, but I do not understand the details of the ministry to which He is calling me. The other thing to remember about this is that we know from tidbits elsewhere in the Gospels that these four men returned to fishing for short periods of time (at one point Jesus preached from Peter’s boat, at one point they were in the boats fishing after Jesus’ resurrection when He appeared to them). Considering all of that, let us remember their example when God calls us to ministry.
The descriptions of the construction of the Tabernacle remind me of part of the reason I started this blog. If it were not for writing this blog, I would skip over these sections…or, more likely, just not read the Bible on the second or third day of such passages and fail to resume again.
At the end of today’s passage it describes how the presence of God descended on the Tabernacle like a cloud. The entire time the Israelites were in the wilderness this cloud of the presence of God remained with them. At night, the fire of the Lord’s presence was visible to the entire encampment through the cloud. While the cloud was settled over the Tabernacle, the Israelites stayed camped. When the cloud lifted, they packed up the camp and followed it. There must have been a certain comfort in being able to see, and follow, a visible representation of God.