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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.

     Moses repeats the Ten Commandments and reminds the people they heard them directly from the mouth of God. Moses went on to remind them that their leaders were afraid to hear more words directly from God and requested that God speak with Moses and then Moses tell them what God had commanded. God heard the request of the leaders and agreed that it was good. God sent the people back to their tents and spoke His commands to Moses.
     Moses then tells the people that God will soon be bringing them into a land of great wealth. He told them that when they entered that land, they needed to remember and follow God’s commands. If they do that, all will go well for them in the land and they will prosper. Moses reminds them, and us, that they must love the Lord their God with all their heart, minds and souls, with all that they are. That is such a great challenge. I find it hard to devote all that I am to loving God, yet I know that I need to do this. That the answer to all of my difficulties comes from doing that. I must learn to let nothing else come between God and myself. And we must live our lives so that others ask us why we behave as we do. When we receive those questions we reply by telling people about what God has done for us. If people are not asking us, we are not being blatant enough about following God’s commands.

     Jesus was going into the village of Nain when a funeral procession was coming out. It was the funeral of the only son of a widow. Jesus felt sorrow for her loss and told her not to cry. He approached and touched the bier on which they were carrying the body. The pallbearers stopped when He did so. Jesus told the young man to get up and he did so. The people who were around were filled with fearful surprise and began to praise God. They recognized that this act by Jesus was a sign that God was working among them and it both thrilled and frightened them. Am I both thrilled and frightened when I see God’s miraculous power displayed? Do I expect to witness God act in ways that will be both thrill and frighten me?
     Shortly after this John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus if He was indeed the Messiah, or if they should be looking for someone else? Jesus told them to go back to John and tell him what they had seen and heard, that “the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” Can we say the same thing about our ministry today? Too many of the ministries I see today either focus on healing the sick/meeting people’s physical needs or they focus on preaching the Gospel. Jesus told John’s disciples that they should see both people’s physical needs being met and the Gospel being preached.
     After John’s disciples left, Jesus began preaching to the crowd about John. He explained to them that they did not go out into the desert to see someone who was blown around by every fad that came along, nor did they go out to see someone who had acquired great wealth. Rather they went out into the desert to see someone who was a messenger preparing the way for the Word of God. Jesus goes on to compare the religious leaders of the day to children who complain because one person (John) does not join them in laughing and playing and another person (Jesus) does not join them in crying and weeping. They complained that John did not join them in eating a drinking at their feasts and said that must indicate the he is demon possessed. Then they turned around and complained that because Jesus was willing to eat and drink with tax collectors and other sinners He must be a glutton and a drunkard.
     There are different ways to interpret what Jesus is saying about the comparison between Himself and John the Baptist. The lesson I take from it is that God calls some people to live an ascetic life, a simple life, where they call others to the denial of self in order to serve God. Others are called to go out among the sinners and show them how it is possible to serve God and your fellow man without being a boring, stick-in-the-mud. First and foremost we should not judge others whom God has called to a different ministry than ourselves. There is another important point here, both John the Baptist and Jesus preached a message that was well-received by the “tax-collectors and the sinners” in their society AND a message that was rejected by the “moral” and powerful. So, is our message directed at the “moral” and powerful? Or at the sinners who are ready to receive God’s forgiveness?

     Another psalm which calls me to praise God. It uplifts my soul on a day when I was feeling a little down. The psalmist says that each day God bears us in His arms, that He carries our burdens. The psalmist tells us to look, that we can see God’s triumphal procession coming into view. Let us be the singers out in front, announcing the coming of the victorious King. God is summoning His might and displaying His power. Soon, the nations of the world will bow in submission to Him. Let us sing God’s praises and proclaim His power to all who will listen. God is awesome, both in the modern sense of being really cool and in the more traditional sense of being overwhelming and a bit frightening. God gives power and strength to those He has made His people.

     Those who bring trouble on their own families will inherit nothing of value and those who live foolish lives will end up in servitude to those who are wise. That really frightens me because all too often I have made foolish choices in my life. Those who are righteous produce fruit which brings life to those around them, the wise save lives by giving warning. The righteous, the ungodly and the sinner will all receive their just due both on this earth and in eternity.