For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    A father will be proud when his son demonstrates through his actions that he is wise. On the other hand the consequences of her son’s foolish actions will bring grief to a mother. It is not just the wisdom which brings joy to a father, nor the foolishness, in and of itself, which brings grief to a mother. Rather it is the results of these characteristics in their offspring which has the result the writer is talking about.

    The wicked do not fear God and in their arrogance are convinced that they are not truly wicked. The psalmist reminds us that no one truly believes that they are evil, no matter how dark the sins they commit. There are those who claim that they can be moral without believing in God. What they forget that if there is no God, there is no standard by which to declare one thing good and another evil.

    I have always been struck by the fact that Jesus spent time with sinners. This passage not only mentions it, but emphasizes it. Reading this passage it is clear that we are called to spend time with, and be friends with, those who are sinners. We are not going to convince those who think they are righteous that they need Jesus. Only those who know that they are sinners will be open to the Gospel message. Jesus let the sinners of His time know that He was not “too good” for them. We should live likewise.
    Today many people think that Christians are boring, wet blankets. It is clear that the sinners of Jesus’ day did not think that of Him. They invited Him to their parties and He went. No one invites a wet blanket to their parties, at least, not a second time. Yet it is clear from the Gospels that the partiers of Jesus’ day wanted to spend time with Jesus and wanted Him at their parties. They thought He was fun to be around. Do the “sinners” of today think that we are fun to be around? Do they want us at their parties?

    Under the old covenant, the procedure for receiving forgiveness for sin was a burnt offering. This is an example of the lengths people will go to obtain forgiveness from their sins. It gives an example of how psychologically difficult it is for us to accept God’s forgiveness and move on from our mistakes. Sometimes in the Church today we make forgiveness too cheap. We forget the point I made in yesterday’s study. Jesus calls us to go and sin no more. Sin is not something to be taken lightly. Yes, God will forgive us, but every sin we commit, no matter how minor, still damages us. Look at the effort the Israelites went to in order to receive God’s forgiveness. This was not because God was vengeful. Rather it was because it was a necessary reminder of how damaging sin is. The problem with such procedures is that they lead us to believe that we can “fix” the damage sin does. Only the Holy Spirit can repair the damage we do to ourselves when we sin.