For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
Make sure to continue to manage the work and resources which provide your income, no matter how wealthy you become. Continue to be productive as long as you are able because accumulated wealth is fleeting.
This psalm starts with a line that we should all remember. “I love the Lord because he hears my voice…” Yes, the Lord hears our voice and answers our prayers. The translation I am using (New Living Translation) says that God protects those with childlike faith. Other translations say that God protects the simple. It reminds us that many people will look at our faith in God and think we are foolish, naive, or just plain childlike for having such a faith. I will not let such opinions shake me because God will protect me. I will not fear death. I will not fear anything because I will walk in God’s presence as long as I draw breath.
The psalmist asks,
for all he has done for me?
He then answers that question. We have nothing to offer the Lord that He does not already have. We have a limited number of things we can do to show our gratitude. We can lift up the salvation God has given us and show it to those around us, making them aware that it is there for them as well. We can praise God for all of the wondrous things He has done for us. We can publicly keep our promises to God, so that others will see how His faithfulness causes us to be faithful.
I love the book of James. He starts off by stating that he is a slave/servant of God and Jesus Christ. He is owned by God and does what God commands/orders him to do. We should seek to live in the same manner. Then comes something that is hard to actually do. We should not just be willing to endure troubles and trials. We should take joy in experiencing troubles and trials. They will test our faith and increase our endurance/perseverance. As our endurance increases we will come ever more mature in our faith. When our endurance becomes complete we will find ourselves perfected (a situation I do not anticipate attaining until I enter into God’s presence in heaven).
James tells us that the poor should consider themselves honoured by God, while the rich should be humbled by the fact that they are rich. This runs exactly counter to the way we normally look at such things. We have a tendency to honour the wealthy and look askance at the poor, usually thinking that the latter is something to be embarrassed about. This passage is one of the most direct contradictions of “prosperity gospel” (which is exactly the opposite of good news). I think that James is saying that if you are rich, God is telling you that you do not have the faith and gumption to serve Him well without that wealth. While, the poor are being honoured by God because He is telling them, and the world, that they are able to do His will with few resources. Contrary to the way the world views things, wealth is not a sign of God’s favor. Rather, it is a sign that we need to work harder to accomplish His will.
I want to make two final points. Wealth is not a sign that someone is an inferior Christian any more than it is a sign that someone is a superior Christian. I am not wealthy by American standards, but I am when compared to most of the world. I am not sure how my faith would survive if I was at the average level of wealth for people around the world, or below. As I have gotten older I have become ever more humble. I have come to fear that if God had chosen to give me a life of hardship that my faith would not endure. However, I am sure of one thing, God’s grace will be sufficient for whatever situation He puts me in. He will not test me beyond what I am able to endure.
Ezekiel tells Edom that they will suffer because they took pleasure in the suffering of the people of Israel. This is a warning for us. I will never take pleasure in the suffering of others, no matter how deserving I believe they are of that suffering. The wicked may deserve to suffer for their wickedness, but rather than take pleasure in their suffering we should feel sorrow that they had not turned from their sins before it came to pass.
Ezekiel prophesies that God will restore the people of Israel to their land. However, He will not do it because they deserve it. He will do it in order to bring honour to His name. In the same way, He has offered us salvation, not because we deserve it but so that His name may be honoured. Let us remember that we did not receive good things from God because we deserve them. God has done good things for us in order that we will honour His name. Let us never forget to honour God’s name and praise Him for His generous mercy.