For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
Acquiring wisdom is something that is your own interest to do. Acting wisely benefits the one who does so. If we cherish and seek understanding we will prosper in what we do.
God is sovereign over all of the earth and for all of time. Any nation or people that refuses to acknowledge God’s sovereignty will vanish off of the face of the earth. God listens to the cries of the helpless and oppressed. He will deliver justice to the fatherless and the powerless. When they understand what God is doing for them, they will no longer fear what their fellow men may do to them.
In yesterday’s passage Paul described the sinfulness of those who deny God’s existence, despite the ample evidence which God has provided. However, in today’s passage he warns us against condemning those people because we cannot truly claim to be any better. We know what God desires us to do. Yet, all too often, we fail to do it. It is not enough to know God’s will, we must act on it. When we work at teaching others to do what is right, do we do what is right ourselves? Are we able to say that we never do any of the things which Jesus warns about in the Sermon on the Mount? Let us examine ourselves and see whether or not any of our actions will give unbelievers cause to blaspheme against God. Let us find those actions and pray to God that His Holy Spirit remove those blemishes from our lives.
In this discussion Paul points out yet more evidence for God. He points out that when unbelievers instinctively do what is right, they are showing that God has imprinted His law on human hearts, even those who have never heard His word. If those who have never heard God’s word know what is right, how can those of us taught it from childhood have any excuse?
When God sent Nathan back to David with His response to David’s desire to build a Temple for God, it contained what I believe to be one of the Bible’s two-fold prophecies. These are prophecies which had a meaning and an application for the people to whom they were first spoken and a meaning and application that went far beyond that. In this case Nathan told David that God would raise up one of his descendants to build a Temple for God. That descendant would have God’s favor. God would secure his throne. To David and those around him, this prophecy would have been seen as applying to Solomon (although they probably did not realize it was Solomon until a few years later).
However, this prophecy also applies to Jesus. It is through Jesus that God’s House has been built for all eternity. For Jesus built a House for God to dwell in in the hearts of those who believe His message and follow Him. There is no God like our God. He has adopted us into His people and family. Oh Lord, do not allow me to act in a way which causes others to blaspheme your name.