For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Those who refuse to listen to facts which do not support their beliefs, who do not fear the Lord, are rejecting wisdom. Wisdom is there for us to learn, if we start with fear of the Lord and accept knowledge, even when we don’t like what it implies. If we reject wisdom we will end up being destroyed by our folly. Those who listen to wisdom, and thus fear the Lord, will live in peace and have no other fears.

    The psalmist wore himself out praying to the Lord. He did not give up. He continued to cry to the Lord, even as his troubles mounted. In the end, God heard his prayers and answered them. Let us follow the psalmist’s example and cry out to the Lord in our troubles. Let us turn to Him. He will hear our prayers and answer them. However, let us not forget to be listening so that when God answers our prayers we will hear Him.

    Jesus continues His teachings about what it means to righteously keep the Law. It is not about obeying the letter of the Law. Rather it is about the spirit of the Law. The Law says that it is wrong to commit adultery. Jesus tells us that even looking at someone with lust is committing adultery. Both involve looking at others as mere objects to satisfy our desires. Jesus goes on to say that even though the Law says a man may divorce his wife by giving her a letter saying so, it is wrong to do so. If a man divorces his wife, he causes her to commit adultery. These two teachings taken together set a very high bar for sexual fidelity. They also set a standard for Christians on sexual behavior. If the Church had held itself to these standards, we would not be having the conversation with society about “gay marriage”.
    Jesus goes on to teach about the honesty, justice, and love. Jesus tells us that if we do not lie, ever, there is no need to take vows to support what we say. If people can trust that every time we answer a question our answer is the truth to the best of our knowledge, they will not need to ask us to take an oath that we are telling the truth. Further, if we are willing to lie in the first place, why should they believe our oath that this time we are telling the truth?
    The next teaching is one of the hardest: “do not resist an evil person.” There is more to it than this, but part of what Jesus is saying here is that we should not let others provoke us. Let them continue to abuse us rather than rise to the bait, but make it obvious. His instructions here are more than just not retaliating. Jesus tells us that if someone strikes us on the cheek, turn the other cheek. If someone forces us to carry their burden one mile, carry it two. I have a situation I deal with where someone I work with frequently tries to get me angry so that I respond defensively and attempt to strike back at his accusations. I need to learn not to rise to his bait.
    Jesus tells us that it is not enough to love our neighbors, we need to also love our enemies. It is important to remember that love is not just an emotion. It involves action. If we love someone we will actively work to promote their well-being. That is a very difficult thing to do. It is so easy to passively stand aside and allow our enemies to suffer harm. Jesus tells us that if we can, we should take action to prevent that harm.

    When Abram and Lot arrived in Canaan they soon ran into a problem. Their herds were too big to share the same pastures. As a result, their herdsman were in constant conflict. Abram sought a solution and suggested to Lot that they separate. Each going their own way. Abram gave Lot first choice. Lot chose the territory that appeared to be better land. As a result of his choice, Lot ended up getting caught up in a war and taken captive. In the meantime Abram had prospered and formed alliances. He was no caught up in the war, but was able to launch a retaliatory raid to rescue Lot. It is important to realize that the consequences of our choices are not always apparent when we make those choices.