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.

     Today I begin reading the Book of Isaiah. He starts out by condemning the children of Israel for turning away from God. Isaiah tells them that God has no interest in the “correct” forms of worship. What God wants from us is for us to learn to do good, to seek justice, to help the oppressed, defend the cause of orphans, and fight for the rights of widows. He tells us that if we turn to God and repent, God will wash away our sin and make us clean. Isaiah uses the metaphor of purifying silver here. When silver becomes thoroughly corroded it can be purified by melting it down in a crucible and removing the dross that floats to the top. Isaiah says that God is going to treat the children of Israel like corroded silver. I believe that God does similar things to other nations as well. When a nation of people start to allow injustice to thrive and the powerless to be oppressed, God will bring judgement on them.
     After telling us that a judgement is coming to those who observe the forms of worship without the substance, Isaiah puts in a section talking about the day when God will extend His will throughout the earth. A day will come when, “Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” Then Isaiah tells us that before that day, the day of God’s judgement will come. When the day of trial comes, we must not rely on humans. Instead we must rely on God to save and protect us.

     Paul begs the Corinthians to take his words to heart and change their ways so that he does not need to be confrontational when he next visits them. He tells them that he does not use human power and weapons to fight against false arguments. Instead he uses the weapons and power of God. It is through God’s power that we can overcome rebellious thoughts and teach people to obey Christ. Paul goes on to give us a guideline for distinguishing leaders who are serving God from those who are serving themselves. Leaders who are serving God speak and act to build up those in the Church. Leaders who are serving themselves tear down those that they “lead”. Finally he tells us that we should not boast about ourselves. We should only boast about the Lord. We should not commend ourselves, but instead allow the Lord to commend us.

     The psalmist tells us that there are those who build their power on lies and deception. They tear down others to make themselves appear more powerful. God will judge them and bring them to ruin. Those who rely on God will have a slower, but more reliable rise.

     Today’s proverb warns us not to stand as security for someone else’s debt unless we can afford to pay the debt ourselves.