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 in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
As Ezekiel completed his description of his vision of the Temple, he describes the rules for the priests and the allotment of land after the people return from exile. He instructs that the ruler is to have land of his own near the Temple to support himself and the rest of the land is to be divided up among the rest of the people. The rulers are to stop robbing and cheating the people. They are to use standard weights and measures that are the same for every person. The rules are to be the same for everyone and no one is above the law.
Peter reminds us that we were chosen by God and made holy by His Spirit. God has caused us to be born again and given a new start through the resurrection of Jesus. God will protect us by His power through our faith in the salvation which He is giving us through Christ’s death and resurrection. Then Peter gets to the meat of his introduction. We can rejoice, not despite our trials, but because of our trials. The trials we face will test and refine our faith. Despite the fact that we have not seen Jesus, we love Him and even though we do not see Him, we believe in Him. This belief and faith fills us with joy. I will declare that I have that joy in my trials, although that is sometime difficult.
The psalmist asks God to open his eyes to see the truths contained within God’s instructions. I will ask the same of God, that He show me the wonderful things that come from following His law. These are not rewards, they are merely the natural consequence of living according to God’s commands. People may laugh, mock and hold me in contempt for doing so, but I will strive to be faithful to God’s commands. And here in the middle is a reminder of the source of so much of our sorrow and shame: we lie to ourselves. I will join the psalmist is asking God to keep me from lying to myself. The first step to pleasing God is to be honest with myself about my failures, neither minimizing them nor over-emphasizing them. I will cling to God’s laws and pursue His commands. As I do that God will increase my understanding.
If we do not listen to what God has to say to us, how can we hope to receive His answers to our prayers. Those who pray to God for aid, yet refuse to listen to and obey His instructions is a hypocrite and will never receive the answer they are looking for.