For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
A word here, a short sentence there is all it takes to start trouble, if we listen to and spread gossip. There are people who think it is clever to stir up strife with subtle digs and comments they can disavow if confronted. Let us not be like that and, more importantly, let us not empower such people by spreading the gossip they start.
No matter how well-intentioned your actions, no matter how strongly you desire to serve God, if you do not first make sure that what you are doing is what God desires, you will fail. It is the same whether we are building a house, or attempting to protect the inhabitants of a city, we will only have success if God is working with us. Or to put it more correctly, we will only have success if we are working with God.
Stephen was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. False accusations were made against him. When he was asked if these accusations were true, Stephen did not reply directly. Instead he started by telling an abbreviated version of the story of the people of Israel. There was a reason for this. He did this in order to lay out the common assumptions which he shared with the members of the Sanhedrin. In addition, it is not possible to explain Jesus’ teachings, nor His death and resurrection, without giving the background of what God had already done throughout history.
We often make the mistake of trying to explain what we believe without first laying the groundwork. In a world that believes that a man can become a woman by declaring that he is one, there is a lot of explaining necessary before Christianity makes sense. This is a world where people believes the statement, “Well, that may be your reality, but it is not my reality,” is considered a rational statement. If we want people to understand Christianity, we have to tell them our story, making sure to include the parts with which they can sympathize.
I always struggle to find meaning when I read the description of the building of the Temple. However, this time I was about to write a short paragraph to that effect when I read the passage one more time. Early on in the construction God sent a message to Solomon, and the people of Israel concerning the Temple, “…if you keep all my decrees and regulations and obey all my commands,… I will live among the Israelites and will never abandon my people Israel.” God does not need, nor does He desire, a fancy building for us to gather to worship Him. God desires that we keep His decrees and regulations and obey His commands. There is a time and place for fancy buildings, but we must never let them distract us from doing God’s will.