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. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Ezekiel continues his description of the new Temple he sees in a vision. Ezekiel goes on to describe his vision of the presence of the Lord entering into the new Temple. In this God told Ezekiel why He had sent Israel into exile. He had done so because they worshiped idols alongside of worshiping Him. They placed the altars to the idols right next to where the Lord had made His residence. Considering that God has now made His residence within us, how much more does our idolatry today grate on His righteousness? Just as Ezekiel said that the Israelites in exile should have been ashamed of their idolatry, we should be ashamed of ours. Let us stop worshiping other gods and honoring relics so that God will live within us forever.
Today’s passage in James gives one of the strongest condemnations of the wealthy in the Bible, and one of the least conditional. It is a condemnation of those who live well by oppressing the poor, those who have gotten wealthy through cheating and mistreating the impoverished. Those of us who live in developed nations need to think about where we get our goods. Does the vendor who provides them to us get them at a discounted price because those who produce them are mistreated. Understand that my application of this to those living in developed nations does not mean that those who do not live in developed nations can ignore this, just that I do not have enough information to talk about how it applies there. I will not attempt to give guidelines on how to address this issue because all of the campaigns I have seen that speak of this issue have been co-opted to serve other agendas. But it is something for each of us who strives to serve the Lord to think about.
James goes on from there to tell us to be patient as we wait for the Lord’s return. In the middle of talking about patience, he tells us not to grumble about each other, warning us that we will be judged by the same standard we use to judge others. He goes on to tell us not to take oaths. Our honesty should be such that no one needs us to take an oath to be sure that what we are saying is as true as we know how to make it. In a court of law witnesses are asked to take an oath that what they are about to say is “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” That should be how we communicate at all times.
James concludes the book by discussing the power of prayer. We are to confess our sins to one another and pray for each other. Let us strive to be dedicated in prayer, remembering that prayer is not just about telling God what we want but listening to what He wants. I know that I need to pray more earnestly. James tells us to turn our efforts to bringing back to the Lord those who turn away and fall into sin. This instruction is an interesting counterbalance to his earlier commands not to judge others.
Today I begin Psalm 119 the longest chapter in the Bible. It is composed of a series of stanzas each of which starts with one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Today I read the first two.
The beginning of this follows on the section of James I just read very well. I just read in James that I should always speak the truth so that no one needs ask me to take an oath. This psalm starts off by telling me that people of integrity are joyful. A person of integrity follows God’s commands and does not compromise with evil. If my actions always reflected God’s decrees, I would never be ashamed (nor even have any reason to be). The way I can thank God for His goodness is by living as I should. The way to stay pure is to follow God’s commands. If I work hard at finding God, He will keep me from straying from His commands. It is when I allow other things to take my focus off of God that I stray into sin. I need to work at hiding more of His word in my heart by memorizing more scripture. Dear Lord, let me never forget your word.
How perfectly today’s passages fit together. Our proverb tells us that it is better to be poor and honest than dishonest and rich. James told us that the dishonest rich had much to fear and that those who strive to follow God should never need to take an oath because their honesty would be taken for granted. Let us strive to fall into the latter class and not the former.