For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    Do not lie about your neighbor (and remember who Jesus said your neighbor was) in order to get back at them for perceived slights.

    If we do not follow God’s commands there are no rituals, there are no symbolic items that we can turn to in order to avoid the consequences. But no matter how badly we screw up, God will still love us and give us another chance. If we but turn repent of our sins and turn back to God He will redeem us and welcome us back to His arms.

    As Paul concludes his letter to the Colossian believers, he reiterates his instructions about relationships. The wording here is similar to the wording he uses elsewhere on this topic. It is important to read what he says here in light of what he says elsewhere on the same topics. Wives are supposed to submit to their husbands, but husbands are obligated to love their wives with the same self-sacrificial love that Christ has for the Church. Children are told to obey their parents, but parents are told not to aggravate their children. Those on the “power” side of a relationship are called on to seek what is best for those over whom society has given them power.
    The most important part of today’s passage is just one sentence long.

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

At least that is the most important part of today’s passage for me. I know that I fall far short of praying as much, and with as much focus, as I should. I will continue to strive to allow the Spirit to bring me to prayer with ever greater frequency and fervor.

    We should not allow the signs in the skies to frighten us, even though those around us are terrified by them. Over the years, I remember reading time and again about some disaster we needed to look out for and be frightened by it. From the “Population Bomb” to Global Warming, some people have made predictions about coming disaster. Jeremiah tells us that these people are foolish because they worship creation rather than the Creator.