January 21, 2014 Bible Study — A Study In Forgiveness

     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. My work schedule has recently changed, meaning that I may not have time every day to complete these. As a result, I am trying to get several days ahead. I hope this does not negatively impact the quality of these posts (if that is possible). If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Genesis 42:18-43:34

     This is a story of reconciliation and forgiveness. We can learn a lot about what it means to forgive by looking at what Joseph did in this story. I am not going to claim that we should model how we deal with those who have hurt us in the past the way that Joseph dealt with his brothers. Merely that we can learn something about forgiveness from this passage. Perhaps even more importantly we can learn something about what it means to repent of our past sins In this story, Joseph has forgiven his brothers (although we do not learn about that until the tomorrow’s passage). However, before he reveals this fact to them, or even the fact that he is their brother, he tests them to see if they have changed. Early on, he learns that they regret what they did to him. However, that is not enough, Joseph seeks to discover whether or not they have changed. Would they do it again? We learn that it is not enough to regret the sins we have committed, we must also have changed our attitudes such that we will not commit similar sins in the future. In the same way, we can forgive people for the wrong they have done us, but sometimes we need to confirm that they have changed before we reconcile with them and begin attempting to rebuild our relationship with them.

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Matthew 13:47-14:12

     Jesus tells us another parable which reminds us that it is not up to us to decide who will receive God’s mercy or not. The “sorting” will occur at the end of time and will be done by God. This does not mean that we do not apply Church discipline, but we must do so humbly, recognizing that it is not up to us to decide who will receive God’s salvation and who will not.
     When Jesus returned to Nazareth, the people there had trouble accepting His miracles because they knew His life story. This is something we have to be careful of. It is all too easy to say that someone cannot possibly be anyone of significance because we know their parents and their siblings and those are not people of great importance. Joseph and Mary and Jesus’ siblings were none of them “movers and shakers” in Nazareth, so the people of Nazareth thought that Jesus could not be anyone of importance either. Let us not make the same mistake.

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Psalm 18:16-36

     As we read this psalm we are reminded that if we do not turn from following God’s commands to doing evil, we can be assured that God will rescue us from our enemies and whatever troubles come our way. Here in the middle is an important summary of part of God’s character:

To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.
To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.

If you wish to find God you need to be faithful and live your life with integrity, those who live wicked lives will only find hostility when they seek God unless they change their ways.
     The psalmist goes on to remind us that it is only through the strength which God gives us that we can face the challenges of this life. More than that, God will give us the strength to overcome any obstacle and defeat any enemy which stands between us and accomplishing the goals which He has set for us. Let us remember that God will shield us from all danger if we look to Him for protection. He is our solid rock and all of His promises prove true.

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Proverbs 4:7-10

     I read this proverb as telling us that the first step to gaining wisdom is to recognize that wisdom is more valuable than anything else we can obtain. If we wish to be wise we must believe that judging whether an action is wise is more important than any other characteristic an action, or its results, may have.