For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
Those who accumulate wealth at the expense of the poor are merely accumulating it for someone else. God will ignore the prayers of those who ignore His laws. Those who lead people down a path to doing evil will be caught in the traps they set for others. While those who live upright, honest lives will thrive.
I like how today’s portion of Psalm 119 begins:
that I may live and obey your word.
We request that God be good to us, not because we obey His commands but in order that we may obey His commands. Then the psalmist reminds us that we are foreigners in this land. We are not citizens of earth, rather we are citizens of God’s Kingdom. Let us tell God of our plans and ask His guidance on carrying them out. Let us listen to His answers and change our plans according to His instruction. I will beg God to keep me from lying to myself that my own desires are His will, when such is not the case. I have chosen to be faithful and will strive to follow God’s instructions.
Peter reminds us that it is through our faith that we are shielded by God’s power. He encourages us to rejoice and be glad, even though we suffer grief from the trials we face in this world. These trials come to prove the genuineness of our faith. It is not a matter of proving our faith to God, who knows whether or not our faith is genuine. Rather it is a matter of proving our faith to ourselves.
Our faith is of greater worth than gold. Peter tells us that our faith will bring us praise, glory, and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. I initially read that as meaning when Christ returns, and think that is probably primarily what Peter meant when he wrote this. However, I just realized that it means, in part, that every time Jesus Christ is revealed to someone who has seen our faith (and perhaps comes to see Jesus because of our faith), we will receive praise, glory, and honour.
We have not seen Jesus and we do not see Him now, but our faith should, nevertheless, fill us with glorious, inexpressible joy. I went with the NIV for this passage today because of what it says in verse nine. The NIV translates verse nine in the present tense. We are receiving the end result of our faith, which is the salvation of our souls. This is not just something which will happen to us in some nebulous future. It is happening right now as we live lives of faith in Jesus Christ. As I type these words, I am filled with that inexpressible, glorious joy to which Peter refers. I hope that reading the passage and thinking about what it means does the same for you.
Ezekiel continues his discussion of the Temple in the restored Jerusalem. It is not clear to me if this restored Jerusalem represents a place and time on earth, or the heavenly Temple, or is perhaps primarily symbolic. As a result, most of Ezekiel’s prophecy about it goes over my head. However, in today’s passage there a couple of things which connect for me.
Ezekiel discusses how the religious leaders of Israel failed to protect the rituals instituted by God by allowing those who did not worship God to partake in them. Rather than maintain the purity of their worship they invited those who scoffed at God to organize and run their worship. As I read this I think of groups and organizations today who try to find common ground of faith with those who do not honour Christ. We can not make those who have not surrendered themselves fully to the Lord members of the Body of Christ.