For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
Acquiring wisdom is an act of self-love. Those who acquire wisdom benefit from doing so. Of course it is not enough to acquire wisdom, one must act on that knowledge as well in order to benefit from it.
God knows what the helpless wish for, He knows their hopes and dreams. He will hear their cries as the wicked crush them and bring them comfort. Let us not be the ones against whom they are crying out because God will deliver justice to the orphan and the oppressed.
I touched on what Paul writes in today;s passage yesterday. The list of evil which people do which Paul listed yesterday is not there for us to condemn others. Rather it is there for us to measure our lives against and determine where we fall short of faithfully serving God. Every time I read yesterday’s and today’s passages I struggle with how to handle them. They are indeed, first and foremost, a guide to me about living my own life. However, we as Christians are called to help our brothers and sisters in Christ deal with the sins in their own lives. If we teach others to follow the guidelines Paul lays out here, but do not do so ourselves we are guilty of causing unbelievers to blaspheme God.
As we read what Paul wrote in these letters, let us strive to put his instructions into practice in our own lives. As we walk with and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, let us, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, advise them to the best of our ability how they can live a more faithful life, while seeking their advice of how we can do the same. Let us always remember that we are all sinners and without God’s grace we are helpless in our sin.
I struggle with Chronicles, what is contained in it that is not in Kings? Perhaps it makes the point about God never asking for a “House”(Temple) a little stronger than was made in the book of Kings. When God told David that He never asked the people of Israel to build Him a house, He was emphasizing that He would not be limited to one location. In addition, while the people of Israel are God’s chosen people, that does not mean that God is not the God of everyone. God is not limited to the land of Israel and He does not live in a House/Temple. In many ways the Tabernacle was a better metaphor for God’s relationship with people. There is no one place where God lives that we must go to in order to find Him. No, God’s Home on this earth is a tent and He will move it to where we live in order that we may worship Him. There is another side to that as well. When we worship God, we need to be prepared to pack up and move to where He goes. He does not stay in one place and He calls us to follow Him.