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, or more. in advance. My work schedule has recently changed, meaning that I may not have time every day to complete these. As a result, I am trying to get several days ahead. I hope this does not negatively impact the quality of these posts (if that is possible). If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
Yesterday, I said that when things “went wrong” with the ministry God had sent Moses and Aaron on they did not give up. This is not quite true. When things did not go as Moses expected He went back to God and complained that he had done everything God had told him to do and, not only didn’t it work, it made things worse. God replied to Moses’ complaint by saying, “Trust me, I’m God.” He told Moses that Pharaoh would see who He was and when he did, Pharaoh would not only allow the people of Israel to leave, he would force them to do so. Moses went back to the people of Israel, but they would not listen to him any longer. God then told him to go back to Pharaoh. Moses resisted, saying that he had made such a hash of it by saying the wrong thing that not even the people of Israel would listen to him anymore.
How often do we feel that way? We feel like we have made a complete mess of things, we said the wrong thing and lost our opportunity. God tells us to keep trying. Except that we need to do it His way, not our way. When things don’t work out, we need to persevere and trust in God. Moses and Aaron had to go back to Pharaoh ten more times before things worked out. If God is calling us to a ministry, we may “fail” again and again, but we need to keep trying. Reading this today it seems to be speaking to me directly. I have felt called to a certain ministry. Yet every time I have started to plan to develop my involvement and become more active in it, something has happened to force me to put it on hold. This passage tells me that I should continue as long as the door to this ministry stays open.
Jesus tells us a parable about forgiveness that sums up the most important point that we need to understand. No matter what someone has done to us, no matter what debt they owe us for the wrong they have done to us, it is insignificant in comparison to the wrong which we have done and of which God has forgiven us. If we will not forgive others for the wrongs they have done us, we will not, can not, be forgiven for the much greater wrongs which we have committed.
Jesus is next confronted about divorce. According to the more popular rabbinical teaching of the day the law of Moses allowed a man to divorce his wife for any reason whatsoever (sort of like today’s “no-fault” divorce, except that only the husband was allowed to “file”…of course this was in a culture where women were economically dependent on men, so a woman was unlikely to file for divorce). Jesus is essentially asked which side of the ongoing debate He was on, did He agree with the interpretation that a man could divorce his wife for any reason he chose, or the side which said that there were a list of reasons which justified divorce. Jesus answered that He was not on either side. He told them that divorce was contrary to God’s will in every case. The only case in which a man could divorce his wife and remarry without committing adultery was if she was already committing adultery against him.
This is perhaps one of the best known passages in the Bible, for good reason. It is such a comforting passage. God will look out for us and we need fear nothing, not even when we pass through the most dangerous places. Nothing can remove us from God’s plan for our life and all that He does will work together for our good if we love and fear Him. The final verse sums it up:
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
forever.
God will not only desire to do good for us and love us all of our lives, His love and goodness will pursue us in His effort to give us good things. And if we allow it, He will bring us into His very house to live throughout eternity. What an amazing, wonderful promise.
The wicked thing they are free, but in truth they are enslaved to the sins they commit. Lack of discipline leads to foolish decisions which in the long-run (and sometimes the not-so-long run) lead to death.