For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I want to encourage everyone who reads this blog to work on reading the Bible regularly, whether it is to work your way completely through it, or some other method of disciplining yourself to read from the Bible each day.
Be careful about spending too much time at your neighbor’s place. If you are there too much, you will wear out your welcome. It reminds me of a rule I have heard about show business, “Always leave them wanting more.” When you visit someone, strive to leave while they would like you to stay longer, not after they wished you had left sooner. Time your visits so that they wish you would visit more often, not so often that they dread your coming over.
A psalm that is a wonderful prayer. I will ask God to hear my prayer. I will bring my petition for protection before Him. I will request His mercy and beg Him to grant me happiness. But in the middle of the psalm is the thing I most desire from God:
that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,
so that I may honor you.
If I allow Him to do these things for me, all else will follow. If we desire to learn God’s ways more than we desire to breath, He will grant us all of our desires.
Paul begins his letter to Timothy by telling him to get certain people to stop teaching false doctrines involving myths and complex genealogies. All of our teachings should come from love and love comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. Unfortunately, some people think they can find a way to live without focusing on those things and get caught up in meaningless discussions about what rules we ought to follow. The people Paul is referring to are people who want to be teachers of religious law, but they do not understand what they are talking about. They have missed the point.
The law has value, but it is not intended for those who are living righteously. Rather it is a warning to those who do things which are contrary to sound doctrine. As I read this, I think about the new, controversial law which just went into effect in California which is called “Yes Means Yes.” It is a terrible law that will lead many a young man (and probably young women) to have his life destroyed for a minor lapse in judgement. However, any young man who follows the Christian moral code, as it was practiced in this country in the early 20th century, will never run afoul of this law. Such a young man will not make sexual advances to a young woman to whom he is not married. He will never be alone with such a young woman. And he will do these things, not because of this law, but because the love of Christ is in his heart. This law is not meant for such young men (it will not require them to alter their behavior one bit). It is meant for those who are seeking to practice sexual immorality and other sins.
The interesting thing about this law to me is that the people behind the law have missed the point. If they taught young men and women to respect each other and to follow the love which comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith, this law would serve no purpose. Instead they did teach young men and women to indulge their sinful desires, then they do not understand when a young man or woman acts on those desires in ways they find unacceptable. They never taught them to do otherwise.
Jeremiah condemned several prophets who prophesied that the people of Judah would soon see a relief from their troubles. Those prophets did not make their prophecies because they had heard a word from God. Instead they told people what they wanted to hear so that they could profit. Jeremiah wrote to those who had already been taken into exile that they should settle in for a long stay. He warned them that those who were telling them to live on a temporary basis in Babylon were doing so out of selfish motives. Those men were using their false prophesies to seduce women and to benefit in other ways.
As we read Jeremiah’s words against these false prophets, we can learn to recognize false prophets and teachers today. Those who genuinely come from God will be calling us to turn from our sins, whatever those sins may be. They will be warning us against following the evil teachings of the society around us. Those who tell us that we can “have it all” with no sacrifice or pain are false prophets looking to gain our trust so that they can profit from our sin.