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.

     Following the rules God laid out in yesterday’s passage, in today’s passage God tells the Israelites that if they do not follow the rules He is giving them, the land itself will reject them. When a society lives with no moral compass, the land in which it lives will attack it in a manner similar to how a body’s immune system attacks an infection.
     This is followed by a series of instructions for priests. These instructions describe who they may marry and gives guidelines for remaining ceremonially clean. It includes instructions as to who may eat of the priestly portion of sacrifices.

     Jesus went on a retreat to the top of a high mountain with only Peter, James and John. While there Jesus was transformed into a radiant figure. Elijah and Moses appeared and talked with Jesus. The disciples were so frightened and amazed that Peter suggested that they make shelters on the mountain top for Jesus, Elijah and Moses. A cloud then came down hiding the three from the disciples and a voice came out of the cloud telling the disciples that this was God’s Son and they should listen to Him. When the cloud lifted, Elijah and Moses were no longer with Jesus. As they descended from the mountaintop Jesus instructed the three disciples not to tell anyone about this experience until they saw Him risen from the dead. Peter, James and John followed His instruction, but spent considerable time trying to figure out what He meant by “rising from the dead.”
     We have all had mountaintop experiences where we wanted to do as Peter did and set up camp to stay there. Yet, just as in this case, we had to return to our daily lives. How often do we return from those experiences wondering what God meant by something we experienced there? Reading this passage today what struck me was this, what was Jesus discussing with Elijah and Moses? Wouldn’t that have been an interesting conversation to be privy to?
     When they returned to the other disciples, they saw them surrounded by a large crowd arguing with some teachers of the law. Jesus inquired what the debate was about. A man in the crowd spoke up, telling Jesus that he had brought his son to the disciples to have them drive a spirit out of the boy. The disciples were unable to help the boy. Jesus expressed disappointment at the lack of faith this demonstrated. He then asked that the boy be brought to Him. When the boy saw Jesus, he went into convulsions and fell to the ground. The father asked Jesus to heal His son, if He was able. Jesus told the father that anything is possible for a person who believes. To which the father cried out one of the great pleas of all time, “I do believe, help my unbelief.” Jesus then commanded the spirit to leave the boy and the boy was healed.
     This father’s cry is one which we all should echo. I know that I do. There are often times when I want to believe, and know that I should, that God can and will accomplish something, but some part of me deep down inside doubts. Those times when I say to God, “If it is Your will,” but mean, “If You can.” On those occasions, I try to remember and echo this father’s heartfelt cry, “I do believe, help my unbelief.” This passage is a reminder that, if we ask, God will give us everything we need, even the faith to ask for what we need. My prayer today, and every day, is that God give me the faith, not just to move mountains, but to transform the world, to do His will in every aspect of my life.

     Again in today’s psalm the psalmist tells us that the answer to depression is to turn to God, put our hopes in Him and praise Him. When we feel overwhelmed by life’s circumstances we should put our hope in God. We should trust that He will provide us with guidance. If we turn to Him for guidance, He will provide us with that guidance and show us the way out of our despair. Depression and despair are a failure of our faith. We all suffer from them from time to time. When we do, we must echo the father from today’s passage in Mark, “I do believe, help my unbelief.”

     When I read this proverb in the New Living Translation, I had trouble understanding what it was getting at. As a result I looked at alternate translations. In the King James and the New International Version translations the sense is that lying to conceal hatred (either your own or that of someone else) makes one a fool. Lying to conceal hatred and spreading slanderous untruths about someone will lead to consequences that you will regret (even if you never make the connection between your lies and slander and the consequences).