For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    It is the Lord who grants wisdom. God is the source of knowledge and understanding. Those who are honest and righteous gain common sense as a natural result, because God designed the Universe that way. If we seek wisdom and follow where it leads, we will find and come to know God. If we seek God and follow where He leads, we will find and know wisdom.

    Every time I look into the night sky I am reminded of God’s majesty and power. Yet, because of this psalm, I am also reminded how much He loves me. But not just how much He loves me, how much He loves every single individual. It is interesting because this psalm combined with the night sky reminds me that I am little and insignificant. Yet I am also reminded that God wants me to use what little insignificant power which I possess to help those around me. I will praise God for how He has made the Universe to remind me that I am loved and that I am to love.

    Today’s passage looks like three different pieces, and in some ways it is. However, these three pieces fit together. Jesus tells us not to worry. Just look around, birds do not farm, or otherwise gather and store up food, yet God provides them with food to eat. Wild flowers do not spin, or otherwise manufacture clothes, yet are they not more beautiful than anything we could hope to buy? God knows that we need food and clothes. We do not need to worry about how we will get them. God will provide our needs.
    One of my favorite verses is right here in Jesus’ teaching us not to worry. Instead of worrying about food and clothes and shelter, let us seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness. If we pursue God’s kingdom with the same energy and urgency we are used to spending on satisfying our physical needs and desires, we will find those physical needs being met without us seeming to put any effort into them whatsoever.
    The next piece of this lesson is that whatever standard we use to judge others, that is the standard by which we will be judged. I never realized before how closely this fits with something my father taught me. My father taught me not to trust someone who is sure that everyone is out to betray them. That person is sure that everyone is out to betray them is because they will readily betray others. In many ways, that is what Jesus was teaching from the opposite perspective. We will judge others by the standard by which they can best judge us. However, my father would have been quick to point out that there is more to Jesus’ teaching than the reverse of the lesson from my father to which I just referred. Jesus was telling us that if we judge others by the standard by which we would like to be judged we will find ourselves living as people who deserve to be judged that way.
    Then there is the third piece of this. If we do not ask, we will not receive given. If we do not seek, we will not find. If we do not knock, no one will open the door for us. On the other hand, if we ask, we will receive; if we seek, we will find; if we knock the door will be opened for us. Let us ask God for wisdom. Let us seek God’s kingdom and righteousness. Let us knock on the door to our neighbor’s heart.

    I have always loved the story of Abraham bartering with God over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham starts by questioning God’s justice and fairness.
“Will you really destroy 50 righteous people just because they live among wicked people?”
To which God replies that if He can find 50 righteous people in Sodom, He will not destroy the city. Abraham than asks, “Well, what if you are only a few short of that number?” Again God replies that if He finds even that number, He will not destroy the city. This continues until Abraham gets God to agree not to destroy the city if there are even 10 righteous people there. At which point, Abraham does not feel that he can argue any further.
    I do not really believe that if Abraham had not argued with God and there had been 10 righteous people in Sodom that God would have destroyed the city. However, it does not mean that it would have been OK for Abraham to not make the attempt. When we see trouble coming we should do everything in our power to save those in its path, just as Abraham did here. We should beg and plead with God to turn aside the coming destruction. We should care that people are going to suffer and desire to relieve them of that suffering, even if they brought it on themselves. Sometimes that caring means telling them that their actions are going to bring them suffering.
    There is another important lesson here. As wicked as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were, God agreed to not destroy them if He could find TEN righteous people in them. I do not know how many people lived in Sodom, but it was probably many more than 1,000. However, if it was only 1,000, that would mean that it only takes 1% of the population to be righteous to save a city from destruction. Think about that. It does not take many people to actually make a difference, to save a city. It only takes a few righteous people to keep a society from degenerating into a mire for which the only solution is destruction. As bad as things look around us, there are still a few righteous people in this nation. Just as Abraham did, let us pray that it is enough, but when we find ourselves in the situation Lot was in, let us stand up for righteousness.

     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. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

     Abraham had received three visitors, one of whom was the Lord. As they prepared to leave, the Lord chose to reveal to Abraham that He was on His way to Sodom and Gomorrah to see if they were as wicked as He had heard. If they were truly wicked, the Lord was going to destroy the cities. Abraham replies by asking the Lord if He would still destroy Sodom if He finds 50 righteous people there? God replies that, no, He would not destroy Sodom if He finds 50 righteous people there. Abraham then asks Him, “What if there are only 45?” And again God answers that He would not destroy the city if there were 45 righteous people there. Abraham continued until he got to ten righteous people and God answered that He would not destroy Sodom if He found 10 righteous people there.
     We do not know how many people lived in Sodom at the time, so we do not know what percentage of the city 10 people would have been. I am not sure that number really matters. The important point of this story is that a small number of people who live righteous lives can act to redeem a city, or nation, in which the majority live wicked lives. I look at the world around me and wonder if Sodom could have been any more wicked than what I observe. Then I ask myself, when God decides to bring judgment against the world today, will I count as one of the righteous people? I also ask myself, are there still “10” righteous people in my region? There is one more thing we need to remember about this story. We are not called to change the way in which our land is governed. We are called to live righteous lives and to act in such a way that those around us feel inspired to live righteous lives. By living righteous lives perhaps we may delay the day of God’s judgment, thus giving those around us time to repent and turn to God.

     Jesus continues His teaching about the impossibility of serving two masters, God and money by telling us not to worry. Worrying does us no good at all. God knows what our needs are. He supplies the birds that live around us with enough to eat and clothes the wild flowers more beautifully than even the richest of kings. If He cares so for those, why don’t we have the faith to believe that He will care for us? Jesus tells us not to spend our time worrying about what we will eat, or drink, or wear. God knows that we need those things. If we spend out time seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness, He will provide our needs.
     In a way the next part is a continuation on the theme of not worrying about things which are out of our control. It is not our place to judge others. Whatever standard we use to judge others is the standard by which we will be judged. Before we attempt to tell others that what they are doing is wrong, we need to address the places in our own lives where what we are doing is wrong. My first priority needs to be living my life faithful to God’s commands before I attempt to tell others what God’s will for them is. It does no one any good for me to tell people who have no desire to live according to God’s will that they are living in violation of His will. Let me live my life in accordance with His will and perhaps my example will cause them to recognize their need to do the same.
     In yesterday’s passage, Jesus told us to keep our prayers simple and short, giving us an example of how we should pray. Here He reminds us that we should not be afraid to ask. If we ask, we will receive. If we seek, we will find. If we knock, the door will be opened. God is not trying to hide from us. He loves us and wants a relationship with us. He wants us to have that which will make us happy. Jesus proves this point by giving an example from earthly fathers who give their children those things which are good for them when they ask. In the same way, we should consider that if God is not giving us something we have asked Him for, perhaps it is because that something will bring us harm and/or unhappiness.
     The final portion of today’s passage points out that the easy path, the obvious path, the one chosen by most people, leads to destruction. The path to God and eternal life is narrow and hard to find, we have to search for it in order to find it. We will not get there by doing what everybody else is doing.

     I love this psalm. I am reminded of it every time I look up at the night sky on a clear night and see the stars. I think about the majestic beauty and am reminded of how large the universe truly is. In this great and wonderful universe which God has created, I am but an insignificant person on an insignificant planet. Yet God cares for me. He has supplied my needs for food, shelter, and clothing. God is so very majestic, yet He loves me. I will praise His name.

     It is from God that we receive wisdom. Ultimately, God is the source of all knowledge and understanding. Those who are honest with themselves and with others will be blessed with common sense. If we live our lives with integrity and seek justice, God will guard and protect us. If we seek God and accept His guidance we will know what is right, just, and fair. He will show us the course of action which we ought to follow. Wisdom and knowledge will give us joy. Making wise decisions will protect us from both the actions of the wicked and from the mistake of following their example. It is wisdom from God which will guide us to the path of life (the one which Jesus told us that few ever find).