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. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
Job speaks of how humans have learned to find precious stones and valuable metals by digging mines into the earth. These are treasures that no wild animal would have any idea were there, yet mankind knows to delve into the earth to retrieve them. Despite this skill at finding valuable things, mankind has trouble finding wisdom. Wisdom cannot be bought for any amount of money, yet is more valuable than all other wealth combined. The only place to find wisdom is from God. The fear of the Lord is true wisdom, and those with understanding will shun evil.
Job recounts how respected he was before tragedy befell him. He tells how he used his wealth to help those less fortunate and advised those planning life changes. Then tragedy struck and now he is mocked by those whose fathers were not worthy to watch his flocks in previous times. Now, in his time of trouble, he receives no aid, despite the fact that when times were good for him he aided those in need.
Paul tells the Corinthians that when he was in Troas the Lord opened an opportunity for him. However, he did not have peace of mind because he had not yet heard back from Titus with word of how the Corinthian Church received Paul’s first letter. As a result, Paul traveled from Troas to Macedonia in an attempt to track down Titus.
Paul then thanks God for taking him captive and leading him in a victory procession. The image Paul is using here is of the parades which Roman Emperors had where they led the captives from their victorious military campaigns through the streets of Rome. Paul then changes to yet another metaphor, that of the incense used by priests to worship various gods. He tells the Corinthians that God has been using him to spread the knowledge of God the way that the smell of incense penetrates all of the area around where it is burned. This scent is perceived by everybody, but not everybody perceives it in the same way. To those who are being saved the smell of that which Paul preaches is a wonderful scent to be greatly desired, but to those who reject God’s salvation the smell is that of death and destruction.
This is a very short passage here today, but it highlights something we need to keep in mind. The very things about the Gospel that we, as Christians, find sweet and joyful are a source of discomfort and opprobrium to those who reject the Gospel. People who we as Christians find pleasant to be around will be viewed by non-Christians people to be despised and avoided in the same way that the smell of rotting meat is despised and avoided.
The psalmist is experiencing a time of depression, but he tells us the answer to breaking out of depression. It is to seek after God the way that a deer seeks out water. When times are difficult and our enemies ask us, “Where is your God now?” we need to still put our hopes in God. He will not disappoint us. Even when we are discouraged we should seek after God, doing His will to the best of our ability. The psalmist is feeling discouraged, but nevertheless he acknowledges:
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.
This is the way in which we can overcome depression when it comes upon us. Praising God and seeking to follow His commands will lead us out from our depression and into the joy of the Lord.
Borrowing money results in a loss of liberty. The more in debt one is, the less freedom of action one has.