For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The godly can look forward to good things in their future. The wicked will face judgment. Proverbs like this one are good reminders for us that if we do God’s will, He will reward us and those who mistreat others will pay a stiff price.

    No matter where we are on earth God will hear and answer our prayers. If we present our needs to God and place our hopes in Him, those needs will be taken care of. We have a choice, we can choose to come to God now, or we can come to Him when He summons us. However, everyone must stand before God to account for their actions.
    Yet another psalm where I cannot come close to expressing in words what it says to me as I read it.

    When the man with leprosy approached Jesus for healing, he had no doubt that Jesus was able to heal him. He just was not sure of Jesus was willing to do so. Jesus answered that He was willing and healed the man. God is willing to heal us, the question is, are we willing to be healed? I always struggle with understanding what to believe about God’s healing, but I think the two stories about Jesus healing in today’s passage provide us with some insight into how God heals.
    In the story about the man carried to Jesus, Jesus forgave the man’s sins before He healed him. I understand this to indicate that before God can heal us we need to accept His forgiveness. Of course, before we can accept His forgiveness we need to acknowledge that we need forgiveness. Part of acknowledging that we need forgiveness and accepting that forgiveness is recognizing that we need to change the behavior for which we are being forgiven (and being willing to change that behavior).
    Having said that, I do not understand why we in the Church do not see more of God’s miraculous healing. In some ways this brings me to another aspect of what I think this passage means. My understanding here is less complete. I believe that God has given all who call on Jesus’ name the same power to perform miracles which Jesus had (there are several places where Jesus tells His disciples that they will perform the same sorts of wonders He did). This story seems to me to suggest that we have the power to convey God’s forgiveness to people. We are empowered to say to people, “Your sins are forgiven.” There is a little more to it than that. It is clear, both from the Pharisees’ reaction and Jesus’ answer to them, that Jesus was forgiving the man at that moment. This means that when we offer God’s healing to people, we need to forgive them for their sins. Are we willing to forgive sinners? Even when they have not yet recognized that they are sinners?

    When the Israelites camped on the eastern side of the Jordan River as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, God instructed them to drive all of the people from the land as they entered it. Yet, we know from other passages that God encouraged them to welcome foreigners who chose to worship Him among them. The key to understanding the meaning of this is the sentence which immediately follows that instruction (and is actually part of that instruction). God tells them to destroy all of the idols and shrines where the people worshiped gods other than Him. The essence is of this passage is the opposite of “multiculturalism”. The Israelites were being warned to not adopt any of the cultural practices of the people living in the land because idolatry was so thoroughly integrated into their culture. We face the same problem today. As Christians we need to separate ourselves from the culture around us because so much of it has idolatry and sinfulness “baked in”.

    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, or more. in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

    I prefer the NIV translation of this proverb. The righteous desire only things which lead to good for themselves and others. The wicked on the other hand hope for things which bring about wrath and judgment.

    Praise belongs to God for His greatness. God faithfully answers our prayers with mighty deeds. I do not deserve the things which God has done for me. I have sinned beyond any legitimate expectation of forgiveness. Yet God forgives me. He offers me redemption and calls me into His arms. I will praise God every day of my life and look forward to living in His presence. God inspires shouts for joy in all of the earth.

    I was going to talk about the faith of the leper mentioned in this passage and about the paralyzed man whom Jesus forgave, but it is the call of Levi, the tax collector, which struck me. As Jesus left town, He passed Levi the tax collector. Tax collectors were known for using their position to extort excessive payments from people and for their sinfulness. Yet when Jesus passed Levi all He saw was a child of God who desired to serve God. Jesus told Levi to follow Him and be His disciple. Levi, the sinner, immediately left everything and followed Jesus. This is just two verses, but it contains a powerful message. Are we willing to leave everything to follow Jesus? Perhaps more importantly, are we willing to follow Jesus’ example and extend His invitation to follow Him to those we pass who are deep sinners? Do we call the “tax collectors” of today to follow Jesus? Or do we think that they are too steeped in sin to respond to His call?

    This passage emphasizes the importance of justice. First it emphasizes that it is just to take the life of someone who intentionally kills someone. Then it sets up a system whereby those who kill someone by accident pay a price for that mistake, but are able to avoid being executed for it. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of being positive that a person is guilty of the crime before taking their life for it.