For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
This section of Proverbs reminds us of what Jesus said in yesterday’s passage. The starting place for living a good life is to keep your heart pure. In order to keep your heart pure be careful about what you say. Stay away from perverse and corrupt talk. What you say reflects what is in your heart. Yet it also has the power to corrupt your heart. Let us focus our thoughts on doing what God wants in our own lives and not worry about what others are doing which may be contrary to God’s will (or not). There are times when we are called to speak to others about the sin in their lives, but let us remember that we are not called to speak to third parties about it.
Every year when I read this psalm I think, “What a wonderful blessing, or toast, the first five verses make.” I am determined to remember this and bring it out when I am called upon to offer up such at an event of various kinds. I make this my prayer for those of you reading this today:
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
It was not long before the events which took place in today’s passage that Jesus fed the 5,000 and walked on water. Yet when Jesus says that He does not want to send the crowd away hungry, the disciples ask, “Where would we get enough food for such a large crowd?” Once more Jesus showed them that God can provide. He took the small amount of food which they had and divided it up among all the people present. There was enough for everyone and more leftover than they had begun with. This has the same important lesson as the feeding of the 5,000. We should not be afraid to do God’s will even if we think we have insufficient resources. If we stretch our resources as far as they will go helping others, God will supply sufficient to meet the need, with plenty leftover.
Then one day a group of religious leaders came to Jesus and demanded that He perform a miraculous sign to prove His authority. This comes after He has healed numerous people and fed two large crowds. I am convinced that they were like those who demand proof of God’s existence and then dismiss every thing presented as coincidence. If Jesus had performed a miracle for them, they would have explained it away. Jesus confronts them with their unwillingness to see what the events going on around them mean. The Pharisees were unable (or unwilling) to read the signs of the times. Are we willing to see what God is showing us?
Jacob blessed his grandsons by Joseph, giving priority to the younger. A short while later he blessed all of his sons. His blessing on his sons reflects with fair accuracy the behaviors and actions of their descendants.