Tag Archives: Proverbs 21:14-16

August 16, 2015 Bible Study — Free to Do What You Please, But Is THAT Really a Good Idea?

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 21:14-16

    Those who do what is right rejoice when society enforces justice, those who wrong are terrified by it. You can see this in people who encourage others to jump to conclusions before the facts are in and then do their best to suppress facts which run counter to the judgment they want people to make.

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Psalm 34:11-22

    The key to a good life is to be choose your words correctly. Do not speak evil, do not tell lies. This is the first step, if you do not follow this advice you will be unable to follow the rest. The next step is two-parter. Turn from evil and do good. It is not enough to not do evil, you must also do what is good. Of course, the best way to avoid doing evil is to fill your time with doing good. There is one more step to leading a good life. Search for peace and when you find it, do what you can to maintain it. As I read this, I think about the troubles I see around this country. There are some true problems which have led to these troubles, but the protests and riots are not going to make things better. There are times when protests are necessary, but currently the country needs someone to calm the situation and quietly address the real grievances.

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1 Corinthians 10:14-33

    Paul makes several points in today’s passage, but I am going to focus on just one. Here Paul talks about our freedom in Christ. We do have freedom in Christ. We are free to do whatever we choose. The Christian faith does not bind us to a set of rules in the way that the Law of Moses binds those who follow the Jewish faith (or even the way the Koran binds those who follow the Muslim faith). So, we are indeed free to do whatever we choose. However, Paul tells us that we need to remember that not every course of action is good for us. Some courses of action are merely not beneficial (that is they do not harm us, but they also do not improve us). But some actions are actively harmful, either to ourselves or to others (I believe that actions which are harmful to others are almost always, if not always, also harmful to us). We should choose actions which are beneficial for both ourselves and others. Let us not only avoid actions which harm others and ourselves. Let us choose actions which make us all better off, not just the actions which bring us pleasure, but those which improve who we are.

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Nehemiah 11:1-12:26

    The leaders of the Jewish people lived in Jerusalem so that they could work together for the good of the entire people. However, in order for it to be viable for them to live there, other people needed to live there as well. The decision was made to choose those people by lot, allowing God to determine who, besides the leaders, should live in Jerusalem. And while they chose them by lot, the passage tells us that those who went to live in Jerusalem did so voluntarily. This is a reminder that we should never use something like the lot to select people for a task who are not willing to undertake the task.

August 16, 2014 Bible Study — Seek not Your Own Good, Rather Seek the Good of Others

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 21:14-16

    Justice brings joy to the godly, but the evil hate and fear it. Those who do evil dislike justice, even when it is administered to others.
    Those who forget commonsense are endangering their life.

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Psalm 34:11-22

    Let us learn to fear the Lord for that is the path to a long and happy life. If we fear the Lord we will not speak evil, nor will we tell lies. It is not enough to not do evil, God calls us to do good. Let us seek out peace and work to maintain it. True peace is more than the absence of strife. God calls us to build that world around us.
    As I read this passage, I cannot help but think in sadness of Robin Williams. He never learned what the psalmist taught from personal experience. God will rescue the broken-hearted. He will heal those whose spirits are crushed. Certainly, I would have to say that someone who is so depressed as to commit (or attempt to commit) suicide has a crushed spirit. If you are experiencing that depression, turn to God. He will offer solace. If you think that you are worthless and of no value, remember that God does not agree. God created you for a purpose. God intends to accomplish something in this world through you. Surrender to His will and you will discover a joy that is beyond description.

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1 Corinthians 10:14-33

    Having just said that there is no significance to eating meat offered to idols, Paul tells us that it is a bad idea to do so. He points out that we often eat meals together as a way of unifying ourselves. There is the example of eating the bread of Communion together which unifies us as the Body of Christ, even the name “Communion” which we use for it indicates this. The significance is not in the food itself, nor in the idols to which it may have been offered. The significance is in the meanings which people place on the ritual which the food and eating that food is part.
    So, we should not worry about whether the food we eat was part of a pagan ritual, but if someone makes it a point of informing us that it was, we should not eat it. We have the freedom in Christ to do anything we desire, but just because we may do something does not mean that we should do it. We should decide whether or not to do something based on how it will effect others. Will our actions help or harm someone else? If I do “this”, will it help another? Or will it lead them to sin? I will choose those actions which will lead others to glorify God and I will avoid those actions which will cause others to curse God.

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Nehemiah 11-12:26

    When they had completed rebuilding Jerusalem, only the leadership of the people were living in Jerusalem. In order to support the people necessary for the Temple to be the center of worship, other people needed to settle in Jerusalem. It was decided that they would select ten percent of the people living in each town throughout the land to move to Jerusalem. There are times when some of us must sacrifice our own comfort, must be willing to move out of our comfort zone, in order to complete God’s mission. Some of us must be willing to fill the support roles, the roles which are not seen as glamorous.

August 16, 2013 Bible Study — I Have The Right To Do Anything, But Not Everything Is Beneficial

     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.

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Nehemiah 11-12:26

     Once the walls around Jerusalem were rebuilt people began to settle into Jerusalem. The leaders of the returned exiles settled in Jerusalem. In addition, one out of every ten of the people living in the other towns of Judah were selected to resettle in Jerusalem. Those who volunteered to settle in Jerusalem were commended by the rest of the people. The passage then goes on to list some of the people who settled in Jerusalem and some of the villages around Jerusalem where others settled.

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1 Corinthians 10:14-33

     Paul continues his discussion on eating meat offered to idols. He starts by pointing out that by taking part in Communion/The Lord’s Supper/The Eucharist (whatever term your tradition uses to refer to the breaking of bread and sharing the cup) we become one body, even though we are many. He then extends the same metaphor to the sacrifices which the Jews offered in the Temple and then ate part of as a meal. In the same way, those who partake in offerings made to idols become part of the body which is worshiping an idol.
     Paul points out that he is not saying that food offered to idols has some significance, nor that idols are real gods. Rather the sacrifices made to idols are made to demons, not to God. Paul says that we should not participants with demons. We cannot be part of the Body of Christ and the body of a demon (I really need to take some time and write a blog on some thoughts I have had about spiritual beings). Paul then continues by talking about our freedom in Christ. He quotes some as saying that as a Christian we have the freedom to do anything. He acknowledges this as a truth, but he tells us that there is an important qualifier, not everything is beneficial, not everything is constructive. Yes, we are free to do anything, but we should only do those things which are constructive and beneficial. More importantly, we should only do those things which are beneficial for others. Our concern should be with building up others.
     From this, Paul offers a guidance about eating meat. He tells us that it is ok to eat anything sold in the market because, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” He goes on to say that if someone invites us to a meal, we should eat whatever is put before us without asking any questions. However, if someone tells you that the food that is put before you was offered as a sacrifice, then do not eat it. The reason to not eat it is to make clear to the person who told us that we will not take part in pagan sacrifices and by doing that we might encourage them to do so.

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     For a long time, I always assumed that Paul was talking about our fellow believers when he talked about someone telling us that meat had been offered to idols. However, it occurred to me recently that this applies just as much to a non-Christian who tells us that. If we are invited to take part in a religious meal by non-Christians we should decline (a Jew inviting us to a seder, or other Jewish holy meal, may be an exception. I have not thought that all the way through). We need to be clear that we do not partake in non-Christian worship practices.
     This reminds me of a major fuss that occurred a short while back over certain fast food chains preparing all of their meat according to halal (Muslim dietary code). The reason that some people were upset about this is because a significant factor in whether or not meat is halal is that in order to be halal it must be dedicated to Allah before it is slaughtered. This is very similar to the way that food was offered to idols and then used as food in Paul’s day. My initial reaction was that this was no big deal because Paul told us to eat food sold in the marketplace without asking any questions. Then I realized that since a big fuss was made about this, it now fell under the category of someone telling me that it had been offered to an idol. I have since forgotten the details about this and am not much concerned about it (it now falls under the class of “food sold in the marketplace, ask no questions”). However, this illustrates the point Paul was making. I think that as Christians we should avoid knowingly eating food that is halal, but we should make no effort to know whether or not any food is halal. If, however, someone, whether a Christian, a Muslim, or of some other faith, makes a point of telling us that particular food is halal, we should not eat it, not for our sake, but for theirs.

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Psalm 34:11-22

Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

This was the first thing my eyes went to when I looked at this psalm today. I think there is something important here that we often overlook. “Turn away from evil and do good” is not really two instructions at all. When we do good, we are turning away from evil. Or to put it another way. the only way to turn away from evil is to do good. Having read that phrase I went back and read the entirety of today’s psalm. The psalmist also tells us that we are to keep from speaking evil or telling lies. There is a lot in this psalm, but I will conclude my meditation on it with this line:
The righteous person faces many troubles,
but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.

That has certainly been true in my life.

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Proverbs 21:14-16

     You see the truth of the middle of these proverbs all around us. Those who do evil are terrified when they see justice done. They seek excuses to allow the guilty to escape punishment. And the third proverb is also true. I just read a story about a daredevil who died in a terrible accident while skydiving wearing what is called a “wingsuit”, which allows the skydiver to “fly” in a manner similar to a flying squirrel. In this case, the “pilot” (a term which is used to refer to those who do this) flew too close to the mountain, lost control and hit the mountain at a high speed. His search for the next thrill overrode his good judgment.

August 16, 2012 Bible Study

Rabbits at Kutztown Folk Festival

Nehemiah 11-12:26

     Today’s passage tells us that the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem, but that a tenth of the people living in other towns of Judah were chosen by lot to live in Jerusalem. We are told that the people commended those who volunteered to resettle in Jerusalem. This is interesting wording since the fact that they were chosen by lot suggests that either everyone (or at least most) wanted to be among those who resettled in Jerusalem or they did not have a choice. Yet, it says that those who did so were commended for volunteering. My best guess would be that at the time nobody really wanted to resettle in Jerusalem, but they recognized that if Jerusalem was going to be the center of their worship some people needed to. So, they chose ten percent of the population by lot to settle there and those chosen willingly relocated there. The passage then goes on to list the leaders of the people who settled in Jerusalem. It, also, tells us that the people of Judah resettled from Beersheba in the south to just north of Jerusalem. Today’s passage concludes with a list of the leaders of the priests and Levites who were part of this settlement process.

Chicks at the Kutztown Folk Festival

1 Corinthians 10:14-33

     Paul follows up what he said in yesterday’s passage by telling us to flee from the worship of idols. He tells us that we should not eat the festival meals at the temples of other gods. That to do so is to make ourselves part of a body that worships idols, just as taking communion makes us part of the body of Christ. Paul tells us in this passage that insofar as the other gods are anything, they are demons. Paul then returns to commenting on the freedom theme. He says that yes, we are free to do anything, but some things are not good for us and therefore we should not do them. Paul tells us that we should be concerned not only about what is good for us, but also about what is good for others.
     Paul then expounds further on the subject in a manner that helps us understand what he is getting at. He tells them to go ahead and buy meat in the marketplace without asking questions “of conscience”. That is, don’t ask whether or not it was part of a sacrifice to idols (apparently it was a practice in that day for meat to be butchered as part of a pagan ritual and then sold in the marketplace), just buy it and eat it. Further if an unbeliever invites you to share a meal with them, go ahead and eat whatever they serve you. Unless of course they were to tell you that the food was part of the worship of an idol. In the latter case, you should not eat it. Not because there is any harm to you from eating it, but because the person who told you that it was part of a pagan worship practice would perceive you as worshiping that idol. Paul sums up his teaching on this subject by telling us that everything we do should be done for the glory of God. We should tailor our actions in order to maximize the impact of our witness so that those who see our behavior might come to the Lord.

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Psalm 34:11-22

     The psalmist tells us that the key to a long and prosperous life is avoiding evil and lies. He tells us that while those who strive to live righteous lives will repeatedly face troubles, God will come to their rescue each time. We could avoid some of the troubles in life by abandoning our faith, but if we stand firm in the face of those troubles, God will stand beside us and bring us through.

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Proverbs 21:14-16

     A good way to calm someone who is angry with you is by giving them a gift that they do not have to acknowledge. Those who strive to do good are happy to see Justice done. Those who do evil are afraid of Justice, even when they are not the subjects of it. Failure to exercise common sense is a good way to end up dead.

Early farm machinery at Kutztown Folk Festival

     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.

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