Genesis 24: 52 - 26: 16
Matthew 8: 18 - 34
Psalm 10: 1 - 15
Proverbs 3: 7 - 8
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This is a tool to help you read through the Bible in a year. Each day there is a reading from The Old Testament, The New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. There is also a place to add comments on what you've read. Just click on the date and you will see any comments posted. Click the scripture verses to read the passage.
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When you think of the psalms what comes to mind are the passages like “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…” Yet the Psalms are full of cries for justice. Over and over again the Psalmist cries out against those who seek to do evil, who harass those around them, who raise their fist at their fellow man, and laugh at the thought of being held accountable to God. Some of the language in the Psalm is very stark. Punish the wicked! Break the arms of these wicked, evil people! How many times have you prayed that prayer? Yet in the heart of everyone, because of the image of God, (except where the conscience as been seared), in each of us there is a cry for justice. A desire to see righteousness reign. I know you can think of times where you were treated unfairly, unjustly. Times where you were talked about badly. God’s promise to you and I is that justice will come. One day everything will be made right again. Everyone will be held accountable. Though I wonder if it will fully look like we think it will. Rarely is one is 100% guiltless in broken relationships. So ultimately we have to trust God. That’s why Paul writes in Romans 12:19 , “…Vindication is mine, says the Lord, I will repay…”
ReplyDeleteI keep finding different accounts of certain Pharisees and Sadducees who wanted to follow Jesus. Here is another one:
ReplyDeleteMatthew 8:19
Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
As a Youth Pastor I am always sensitive to the teachers of religious law... because I am one. It's my responsibility to teach teenagers about Jesus through accurate interpretation of the Bible. Whenever Jesus rebuked the teachers of the religious law, I cringe a bit, even though I know they deserved it immensely. But even in the political religious tyranny of this time period, there were leaders who were willing to give up all there religious traditions and hierarchy to follow Jesus. I don't hear about them as much as the one's who were poor and needy. I think that is just as amazing as when some fishermen decided to follow him, if not more so. That's why I love the story of Nicodemus in John 3. But here, Jesus reply was:
Matthew 8:20
But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”
Basically he says, "If your going to follow me, you will lose the comforts of having a house to call home. Are you ready for that?"
It doesn't say what the man's response was, but my hope is that this teacher of religious did decide to follow him. Jesus response to the teacher is woven throughout the gospels.
Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.
John 12:25
Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.
Matthew 16:25
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
Matthew 10:39
If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.