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. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
God promised Jeremiah that any people who learned to swear by His name will become the people of God. However, He also promised that any people who refused to obey Him will be uprooted and destroyed. We have been made to cling to God and serve Him. If we do this we will be cared for and treasured by Him. If on the other hand we refuse to listen to God and follow our own desires, we will become like a rotting loincloth, good for nothing and of no value to anyone.
It is time to listen and pay attention. We must not let our arrogance blind us to God’s call nor make us deaf to His commands. It is not too late. Let us listen to God’s call and speak out to our neighbors. We are called to a dual ministry. The first part is to act according to God’s will. The second part is to tell our neighbors and fellow countrymen that God’s judgment is nigh. Now is the time to answer God’s call. Time is running short, but it has not yet run out.
Once more one of Paul’s letters starts off with a reminder of the central place prayer played in Paul’s ministry. And once more I am challenged to strengthen my prayer life. Since Paul found time to pray for the various believers in these various cities, what is my excuse? I do not have one and I come before God and ask Him to send His Spirit upon me and give me a heart for prayer.
This passage shows us the importance of living according to the Spirit and living out the Gospel in our lives. First, the believers in Thessalonica saw Paul living out the Gospel message he was preaching. In response to his teaching and the way he lived among them, they chose to imitate his life and that of Christ. They did this in such a way that others imitated them, initially in the local region, but over time throughout the entire Roman Empire. People were impressed with how they turned away from heathen practices to enthusiastically follow God. All of this resulted from Paul coming among them and showing them what it truly means to be a Christian. This is a challenge to me. Do I live my life so that others want to be like me? Do others witness my life and strive to follow Jesus so that they can be like me? That is my goal, to live my life so that others will want to know the Gospel to be like me. I wish to live my life so that it brings glory to Christ, so that others see how I act and want to know how they can be like that. Not because I want them to hold me up as some great person, but because I want them to seek the Lord.
Today this psalm as a whole did not speak to me. However, there is a section in the middle that did.
Let your compassion quickly meet our needs,
for we are on the brink of despair.Help us, O God of our salvation!
Help us for the glory of your name.
Save us and forgive our sins
for the honor of your name.
Why should pagan nations be allowed to scoff,
asking, “Where is their God?”
I will call out to God for His compassion because I am in desperate need of His care. I have made mistakes and sinned against God, I ask for His forgiveness so that His name may be honored. I ask that God show Himself to those around me who doubt that He is real, that He silence those who say to me, “Where is your God?” I do not ask this for my own glory, but for His.
It is so easy to fall into bad habits which lead to poverty. One must dedicate oneself to the tasks that need to be done, when they need to be done.