I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
     Today, I read the story of how Gideon was called to lead the Israelites. I can certainly sympathize with Gideon. God calls him to lead the Israelites into battle against the Midianites, yet he is not the eldest of his father’s sons and his clan is not one of prominence. Why would anyone listen to him? The story tells us that Gideon pulled down his father’s altar to Baal, yet it was the town’s people who demanded that Gideon be delivered to them to be killed and his father who says that if Baal is really a god, let Baal deliver punishment to Gideon for the destruction of the altar.
     Even though Gideon was given a sign when the Lord first called him, he still puts out the fleece twice before leading the Israelites into battle against the Midianites. I understand why. It is difficult to be sure what God is calling us to do. I struggle constantly with knowing what God’s will for my life is. I wish to serve the Lord, yet I do not know what He wants me to do. I am striving to become someone in motion so that God can guide my path.

     Today, my New Testament reading was Peter’s denial, Jesus before the Sanhedrin and then before Pilate and Herod. I am so glad that we have the story of Peter’s denial because I have found myself acting as Peter did here, lacking the courage to acknowledge that I am a follower of Christ. There have been times when this story has provided me with the courage to overcome my fear and stand up and say that “Yes, I am a follower of Christ.” But this story has also provided me with the solace that God will forgive after those times when I was unable to muster that courage. I am seeking to emulate the Peter of Acts when he tells the Sanhedrin that he cannot help but speak of what he had seen and heard.

     I started reading a psalm each morning several months ago and I still do so outside of the reading I do to prepare this blog. I read the psalm I am writing this about a week or so back and at that time it did not have the same impact that it had this morning. This psalm brings lifts me up to rejoice in worshiping the Lord, but it also reinforces the lesson I received from the story of Gideon that I must strive to find how God wishes me to serve Him in my life today. Yesterday, I was thinking that my blog was becoming rote and kind of empty, that I needed to put more of myself into it. This morning, my Bible Study is made more meaningful by my seeking to write what the Scripture I am reading means to me.
     Praise the Lord! Lord show me how you wish me to serve you. Let me praise your name in all I do.

     There are a couple of ways to take today’s proverbs. The first is to look at them as a way to evaluate the actions of others. Certainly, we can see that those who are honest are consistently honest. In addition, we find that those who have lied to us once, have usually lied to us frequently so that we can trust nothing they say. With the second proverb, I am sure we all know people who are constantly making fun of things they do not understand and cannot be made to understand. Yet there are others who quickly understand the perspective of those they disagree with.
     But there is a second way to understand these proverbs. That is to look at them in our own actions and how what actions we choose effect who we are. The first proverb tells us that if we tell the truth, it becomes easier to tell the truth, and if we lie, we will do so more and more. One lie leads to a second, and that second to a third, and so on. On the other hand, if we tell the truth, even if it is hard, it becomes easier to do so in the future. With the second proverb, if we mock the beliefs of those we disagree with, it becomes harder to understand why they believe what they do and thus becomes harder to convince them of their error (if they are indeed in error). The second part shows us that if we respect the beliefs of others, even when we are sure they are wrong, we can more readily learn (because perhaps we will realize that in a particular case it is ourselves who are mistaken).