For today, One Year Bible Online links here. Christmas is coming soon. Let us remember what it is truly about, the birth of Jesus Christ. Let us strive to not be caught up in the commercialism which is what this season is about for many in our society today.
Once again today, one of the proverbs reminds me of the events going on around the United States (and thinking about it, around the world). Fools give full vent to their anger, but eventually the wise will bring calm. Where are the wise people who will bring calm to these situations?
If we trust God we will be secure, nothing will be able to shake our confidence. The psalmist makes a good point in the middle of today’s psalm
The wicked will not rule the land of the godly,…
This is something to remember whenever we begin to believe that those who rule over us are wicked. If the people are godly, their rulers will be as well. God promises that the wicked will not rule over the godly.
The most important thing for us to remember is that we are to love one another. Yes, it is important that we obey God’s commands, but one of the most basic of God’s commands is that we love one another, the other one is that we love God. All of the rest of God’s commands are instructions on how we can do those two things (or about things that are inconsistent with those two things: e.g. we will not murder someone we love). So, John tells us that we are not obeying God’s commands if we do not love one another and we do not love one another if we do not obey God’s commands.
Then John makes a point that is very important. He tells us that he wrote his reminder about loving one another because of deceivers who have gone out into the world. He tells us that these deceivers deny that Jesus came in a real body (I suspect that he means that they deny that Jesus lived, died, and rose from the dead). I am glad that I am reading this now because it reminds me of an point to keep in mind when discussing issues with those who hold non-traditional positions on things such as abortion and “homosexual marriage”. Before spending any time discussing the merits of their arguments on the issue, it is important to discover what they believe about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. If they do not believe that the Gospel accounts are historical reality, nothing else they have to say represents a position consistent with faith in Christ.
The prophet makes God’s case against Israel:
There is no faithfulness, no kindness,
no knowledge of God in your land.
You make vows and break them;
you kill and steal and commit adultery.
There is violence everywhere—
one murder after another.
When I read that I thought, “That so describes our country today.” Then he goes on and writes this:
Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea are disappearing.
But Hosea is not calling on us to be environmentally conscious. I am convinced that if we live truly godly lives, taking care of the environment will happen as a side effect. However, the most important part of today’s passage is when Hosea says this:
Don’t point your finger at someone else
and try to pass the blame!
We cannot avoid blame for what is going wrong by looking at those who are worse than ourselves. No, we need to ask ourselves how we are contributing to the above. Do I agree to do something and then fail to do it? Do I take things which do not belong to me? Do I watch violent TV shows, or movies? How about those which are sexually salacious? We are not to assign blame for what is wrong in our society to others. We are to take responsibility for our own actions and change them. Let us be models of godly living. I will admit that I have failed to live according to what I believe is right. In as much as I have done so, I have contributed to the problems in our society.