Money acquired through get-rich-quick schemes is not valued and is as quickly lost as it was gained. The lessons learned by earning wealth by hard work teach one how to build that wealth once it has been obtained.
The psalmist prophecies that the people of Egypt and Babylon, the people of distant lands, will be among those who know God. Certainly this is true, there are people from many lands who have come to know God through the preaching of the Gospel. However, I could not help but wonder if this prophecy might literally come true. Might the day come when the people from Egypt to Babylon (Iraq) are ruled from Jerusalem? Something to ponder.
I love the story of Zacchaeus, but I never know if we are supposed to see Zacchaeus; or Jesus’ actions as our model in this story. The answer I think is both depending on the situation we find ourselves in. First, Zacchaeus seeks greater knowledge of Jesus and goes to some effort to obtain it. Then Zacchaeus responds to Jesus by promising to behave righteously going forward.
Second, we have Jesus’ actions towards Zacchaeus. Jesus chose to associate with Zacchaeus. He chose to befriend Zacchaeus, even though most people condemned Him for doing so. The people disliked Zacchaeus, and they had good reasons for feeling that way. Then when Zacchaeus transformed, Jesus made sure everyone knew it. By praising Zacchaeus’ changed attitude Jesus both rewarded him for making the change AND made it harder for him to go back on his word.
Ultimately, while I think we are called to be as excited as Zacchaeus was about getting closer to Jesus, the main point of this story is that we should befriend those who need God’s love most.
If you acquire wealth by get-rich-quick or dishonest schemes (there is often very little difference between the two), you will quickly lose that wealth. The only wealth that will last is that which is built bit-by-bit through hard work.
The psalmist tells us that God has founded a city which is greatly blessed. That city goes by the name of Jerusalem. The citizens of that city are loved by God, but it is not like other cities. God will write the names of people from every nation down as citizens of His Jerusalem. Yes, I will sing that the source of my life comes from Jerusalem, the city of our God.
Here we have the story of Zacchaeus, one of my favorite Bible stories. I am not sure what it is about this story that I like so much. Perhaps it is the image of Zacchaeus up in the tree, quickly climbing down when Jesus addresses him directly. I always visualize him almost falling out of the tree in his haste to answer Jesus. As I think about it, I realize that much of why I like this story is Zacchaeus’ enthusiastic response to Jesus. The story starts with Zacchaeus trying to find a place to get a look at Jesus as He passes by, but then it quickly changes when Jesus tells Zacchaeus that He is coming to his house. I want to be that enthusiastic about Jesus. On the other hand, are we as welcoming of sinners as Jesus was? Or are we more like the people who grumble because Jesus reached out to Zacchaeus?
Once the people of Israel had taken control of a good portion of the land they set up the Tabernacle at Shiloh. Joshua then turned to the remaining tribes and asked them, “How long are you going to wait before taking possession of the remaining land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given to you?” How long are we going to wait until we take ownership of the promises which God has made to us? I am not sure what this means for me, but I feel convicted that there are things which God has been calling me to do that I need to stop waiting for the right time and just do them. I pray that God’s Spirit will make what these are plain to me in the coming days.
It was one year ago yesterday that I began this daily Bible study blog. However, that first blog I used the wrong link to the scripture passages, so today’s blog is the first one where I am blogging on the same passages for a second time. I am excited about discovering what God has in store for me as I begin blogging about the passages that I blogged about last year. I hope that my writing has improved as I have gone along. I pray that God’s Spirit continues to move in me as I write this. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. The last few days the Spirit has really moved in my heart as I wrote my blog entries. I pray that He continues to do so and that I can take what the Spirit has been saying to me and put it into practice. Please pray for me on that score.
I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. 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.
The passage describes the borders of the land which was given to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Some of the clans of Manasseh had been granted land east of the Jordan, so today’s passage describes only the land given to the remaining clans. Once the Israelites controlled the land, they gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tabernacle. Seven of the tribes had not yet been allotted their land. Joshua told them to send out three men from each tribe to explore and map the land. Once they returned, Joshua cast lots before God to divide the remaining land among the remaining seven tribes.
As Jesus entered Jericho, there was a man named Zacchaeus who wanted to see Jesus but he was too short to see over the crowd. Zacchaeus ran a bit ahead and climbed a fig tree so that he could see over the crowd. Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector in the region and had become very wealthy from it. When Jesus came by the tree Zacchaeus was in, He told him to come down because He needed to be a guest at Zacchaeus’ house that day. The crowd was largely unhappy with Jesus’ choice because Zacchaeus was hugely unpopular and seen (probably accurately) as a sinner and traitor to his people. Zacchaeus, however, responded to Jesus’ outreach by vowing to give half of his wealth to the poor and repay anyone he cheated on their taxes back fourfold. Jesus affirmed Zacchaeus’ actions by saying that salvation had come to his house. Jesus tells the people that He came to seek and save the lost. Jesus did not just go about His life and preach to those who happened to meet. He actively sought out the lost to bring them to salvation. Do I seek out the lost to bring them to salvation?
Jesus then tells a parable of a master who is called away to become king of a distant land. Before he leaves, he gives a sum of money to each of ten servants with instructions to put the money to work while he was away. When he returned he called the servants to give an accounting of the money they had been given. The first comes to him and tells him that he had increased the sum tenfold. The master gives him charge of ten cities in his new kingdom. A second servant comes before the master and tells him that he increased the sum five-fold. The master gives this servant charge of five cities. Another servant comes before the master and returns to him the money he had been given, telling his master that he kept it safely hidden because he knew his master would take as his own whatever he gained. The master asked this servant why he did not at least deposit the money where it could earn some interest and then took the money from him. This passage has always been a challenge to me because I feel that God has given me many gifts AND that I have failed to make the best use of them. Do I use the assets God has given me to my fullest ability to grow the Kingdom of God? Do I use the talents, material wealth and other gifts which God has given me in order to seek and save the lost? I will strive to remember that such is the purpose for which God has given these things to me.
I read this psalm and I find two things. The first is that the psalmist is speaking of the glory of Jerusalem and how wonderful it is to live there/have been born there. However, I also read the psalm as psalm of praise about God’s great love for people. I read this psalm as a proclamation from God that He will make those who acknowledge Him “natural-born” citizens of the City of God. No matter what our start in life, if we acknowledge God He will make it as if we had always been a part of His Kingdom.
Money earned by tricks and schemes is quickly spent. If on the other hand you work hard and build wealth slowly, you will learn the habits necessary to sustain that wealth.
