For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
Wisdom is everywhere to be found if you look for it. Seek advice from those who exhibit good judgment, but if you truly look for wisdom you can even find it among those who act foolishly. No one acts foolishly because they lack access to wisdom, rather they do so because they do not seek the wise course.
The psalmist points out how quickly people forget what God has done for us. Rather than be thankful for the things God has done, we have a tendency to demand ever more from God. Let us be careful about being demanding. If we refuse to be content with what He chooses to give us He may give us what we ask for rather than what He knows is best for us. Oh Lord God, may my prayer always be, “not my will, but thine.”
In John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand Philip and Andrew are the prime players among the disciples. It is Philip who wonders how they can possibly afford to buy food for that many people. It is Andrew who presents the boy with the bread and fish, but he does not see what good that will do them. The point of this passage is that when God calls us to a task, He will provide us with the means to accomplish it, even if it seems well beyond our means. Jesus took five loaves of bread and two loaves of fish and began feeding a crowd of five thousand. Not only was there enough food that everyone was satisfied, but there was more left over than what He began with.
I have always loved the story of what happened after the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant. They took the Ark and placed it to indicate that Dagon was more powerful than the God of Israel. There was logic in this. They had just one a great victory over an Israeli army and captured the Ark, which was the symbol of God’s presence. God quickly demonstrated that they had misunderstood what their victory meant. The Israelites surely heard the stories of what happened and how and why the Philistines returned the Ark. Yet it was twenty more years before they were ready to turn away from the pagan gods and back to God.
Twenty years after the return of the Ark, Samuel led a revival in Israel. He called on the people of Israel to turn from their worship of idols and return to worshiping God wholeheartedly. The Israelites gathered to rededicate themselves to worshiping and serving God. The Philistines gathered their armies and attacked them. It was not the Israelites superior military which won the day. It was the hand of God which disrupted the Philistine army. What happened here is what happens every time God’s people dedicate themselves to serving Him rather than seeking to advance their own interests. God rises up and strikes down those who choose to be His enemies by attacking His people. This is why I do not get down and depressed when I look at the events of the world today. All it will take to turn things to a more positive direction is for God’s people to rededicate themselves to serving Him with all of their hearts, minds, and strength.