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. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

     Jeremiah prophecies concerning three more of the kingdoms around Judah, predicting their destruction. He then goes on to prophecy the fall of Babylon and the restoration of Israel. Jeremiah prophecies that the remnant of Israel will seek after God as God restores them to their land. He prophecies this in the middle of his prophecy that Babylon will be destroyed. Jeremiah says that God will destroy Babylon because of their arrogance and their idolatry. Babylon was used by God to bring judgement on the people of Judah, but in their pride the Babylonians went beyond what God had called them to do. They gave credit for their success to false gods and worshiped them in ways detestable to God, in ways that always lead to the destruction of a society that practices them.

     Paul writes to Titus and begins by telling him that Paul is teaching people the truth that leads to godliness. This gives us a guideline by which to judge the truth of someone’s teaching, does following it lead to godliness? Paul then once again gives us the job requirements for an elder in the church. An elder must be the husband of one wife, with children who are believers and do not have a reputation for being wild or rebellious. An elder must not be one who is overbearing, or quick-tempered. He must not be given to violence or drunkenness. He must have a reputation for honest dealing when it comes to money. Then we come to the positive job requirements. An elder must be hospitable. He must be a lover of what is good. He must live a wise, disciplined life. He must have a strong faith and be solidly grounded in scripture. I had read these passages before in discussions about the qualifications of an elder, but I had never noticed the hospitality requirement before I did my blog on 1 Timothy a short time ago.
     Paul goes on to explain why it is important that an elder be strongly grounded in scripture. The reason is that there are many people who are teaching false teachings in order to enrich themselves. So, an elder must be firmly grounded in scripture so that he can show those tempted to follow these false teachers where they are wrong. Paul gives us another teaching to judge ourselves and the teachings of others. He tells us that everything is pure to the person of pure heart, but that nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving. I am sure you know the type, those who always see ulterior motives in everything anyone does. And not just ulterior motives, but those of the most sordid type. We should consider our own thoughts, do we always think that others are doing things for purely selfish reasons? Or, on the other hand, do we find ourselves giving people too much of the benefit of the doubt? This passage suggests we should be more towards the latter than the former.

     All who worship anything other than the true God will be shamed as all creation will be forced to bow before God. Those who love the Lord will hate evil. Note that it says that they will “hate evil”, not “hate evil people”. And what is evil? It is the absence of good, the absence of God. Let us rejoice in the Lord and praise His name. In this way we can spread the presence of His good further in this world.
     Let us sing a song to the Lord, for He has been victorious. He will judge the world in justice and fairness.

     A lazy person will use fear as an excuse to not work. This passage tells us a lot about some mental disorders. Some people develop mental disorders (paranoia, phobias, etc) in order to avoid work of one kind or another. This is not true of all people that suffer from these disorders, but I have observed people whose symptoms seem to disappear when they would interfere with activities that the person wishes to take part in. Our writer goes on to point out that the lazy often think they are wiser than others. If everyone around you suggests that you should take action, but you still feel otherwise, perhaps the problem is laziness.