Today’s proverb reminds me of a small skit I am doing with some friends in the near future. It is called “Pantalone’s Worry Box.” It is about a miser who loses all of his money because he spends it in various efforts to avoid losing it. In many ways that is what this proverb is about, although not completely. Those who are generous, who spend their wealth (whether money or goods) in order to help others will prosper in all they do. This does not mean that they will gain great material wealth (although it might). It means that they will gain that which is truly valuable, the love of others and of God.
On the other hand, misers will lose everything of true value (and likely their wealth as well).
This psalm contains an invitation we should be eager to accept…and to extend to others. We are invited/encouraged/commanded to joyously praise God. If we are not already eager to do this, the psalmist extends us another invitation, “Come and see what our God has done.” If you have done the latter, you will do the former. Those who have seen the marvelous things which God has done cannot help but praise Him loudly and joyously. If you are not enthusiastically praising God, I invite you too to come and see what He has done, is doing, will do!
Today’s passage contains four stories with three separate themes: one about bringing God’s good news to sinners, one about accepting change, two about the fact that God’s law never forbids doing good. Yet, in a way, they all have one theme. Really, they are all about not thinking we are better than others. In every one of these cases those challenging Jesus were saying, “Look how much better than those others we are. We don’t associate with sinners. We fast regularly. We don’t do anything which could be mistaken for work on the Sabbath. We are better than everyone else.” Jesus answer is “All have turned away. No one does good.”
There is more to this than I can find the words to express today. It is not that there are not some people who are better than others. It is just that if you think you are one of them, you are wrong. I have known, and know, a few people who are better than most people…and every single one of them would have denied it with every fiber of their being. Not only that, they would have thought you were crazy for even imagining that they were better than someone else. Not everyone who thinks they are the scum of the earth and the lowliest of the low is a good person, but no one who does not know that they are the lowliest of the low and the greatest of sinners is a good person.
This passage reminds us that one thing we do to address a social problem opens up the possibility of another social problem, that something we do to correct an injustice in one area might lead to an injustice in another. We need to pay attention to unintended consequences of our actions.
Deuteronomy means (basically) “second law”. The laws which God had given out to Moses and the Israelites were presented at various points throughout Leviticus and Numbers. Deuteronomy is written, in part, to bring all of these laws together and show how they fit together. The book starts with a speech which Moses gave the Israelites as they camped on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Moses’ speech is a recap of their travel from Mt Sinai to where they were when he gave the speech.
Moses explains how the Israelites rebelled against God when they failed to trust God and enter the Promised Land and then rebelled again and strove to enter the land when God told them the punishment for their rebellion. These events are a reminder to us that if we hesitate when God calls us to a task the window of opportunity may close. If we hesitated to answer God’s call, the moment may pass and now He has other plans for us.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I write this daily blog because it helps me pay closer attention to the Scripture as I read it. Before I started writing this blog I had trouble disciplining myself to read the Bible regularly, let alone every day. I hope that by posting my thoughts I can encourage others to regularly read the Bible (and perhaps my thoughts will give someone encouragement in their walk with Christ). In order to make it possible for others to use my blog as part of their daily Bible Study (the hubris of that idea never ceases to amaze me), 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.
Those who are generous and give freely to those in need prosper. Generosity brings about its own reward (and usually leads to greater material wealth).
Today’s psalm is on the same theme as yesterday’s psalm. I love reading psalms like today’s, they make me want to sing (which is not necessarily a good thing, as those who have heard me sing are aware).
Come and see what our God has done,
what awesome miracles he performs for people!
I cried out to God for help and he answered me. I confessed my sins and He rescued me from my troubles. God listened to me when I cried for help. He has tried me and put me through difficult times. God will purify me like silver and I will praise Him.
Levi, the tax collector become disciple, held a banquet for his friends to meet Jesus. The religious teachers asked Jesus’ disciples why He hung out with such low-lifes?
Jesus answered them by telling them that He had not come to reach the righteous, but rather He had come to reach the sinners. There are two questions we need to ask ourselves. Do we consider ourselves the righteous, or the sinners? The second is, are we Levi, introducing sinners to Jesus? Or are we the Pharisees, condemning Jesus for hanging out with the sinners?
Luke follows this up with three more stories which show us ways in which the religious teachers did not understand how God desires that we behave. They were more caught up in following the “rules” than in caring for their fellow-man.
Here at the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy, or “Second Law”, Moses summarizes the events that happened from when the people of Israel left Mt Sinai until they attempted to invade the Promised Land after initially refusing to enter. First, Moses recounted how he appointed judges over sections of the people in order to distribute the load of governing the Israelites, because it was too big of a task for one man to do by himself. This is an important lesson for leaders of any group as it grows in size, there needs to be leaders over subsets of the group. Notice that these judges were not just subordinates who took part of the load. They were each responsible for a specific group of people.
Moses then tells of how when they arrived at the border of the Promised Land, he encouraged them to invade immediately. However, they asked him to send scouts in to scout out the land first. Moses recounts that this seemed like a good idea to him, so he did sent in twelve scouts, one from each tribe. The scouts reported back that it was a good land, but they also reported that the people of the land were powerful. Moses recounted here how the people were afraid to enter the land despite all that God had done for them starting in Egypt. How often are we afraid to do what God calls us to do?
This passage reminds us that marriage is an economic partnership. We need to teach our young people this fact and encourage them to consider the economic factors when they are choosing a spouse. There are other factors which they must be taught to take into account, but the young do not naturally think about the economic consequences of their decisions.
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.
As the decision was being made about how to divide up the land, the heads of the clans of Gilead came to Moses with a concern. Earlier Moses had ruled that the daughters of a man in their clan who had died without sons should be allotted land in his name along with the rest of the people of Israel (this ruling was generalized that the land of a man who died without sons should pass to his daughters). These leaders were concerned that those women who received a portion of land with their tribe would marry outside of the tribe and the land would be lost to the tribe. Moses ruled that women who inherit land from a father must marry within their own tribe so that the land stays within the tribe. He then added a statement to clarify his ruling. The land granted when the children of Israel entered the Promised Land was not to pass from tribe to tribe, but rather it was to stay within the tribe to which it was granted at this time.
Today I begin Deuteronomy, which roughly translates as “Second Law”. There are many who claim that the Book of Deuteronomy was composed during the reign of King Josiah when he ordered the cleaning and restoration of the Temple. I find the reason that the text of Deuteronomy implies for its existence completely satisfying. The Book of Deuteronomy is a retelling of the laws given by God to the people of Israel. Originally, Moses wrote the laws down and gave them to the people at Mt Sinai. Here in the Book of Deuteronomy, all of the adults who were at Mt Sinai have died and there is a new generation about to enter the Promised Land. God has told Moses that he will not live to go with them. So, Moses repeats the Law for this new generation and reminds them of what God has done for them and their parents.
Moses starts by recounting how he worked with the people to find and appoint judges over them to help him resolve their disputes. Those judges were instructed to be impartial and to offer a hearing to everyone, no matter how rich or poor. He also instructed them to bring any case that was too difficult to him for resolution. Moses then tells them how they moved on from Mt Sinai until they came to Kadesh-barnea. Moses told the people of Israel to go in and occupy the land, but the people wanted to send scouts out ahead of them. Moses thought this was a good idea and sent twelve scouts into the land, one from each tribe.
The scouts reported back that it was a good land, but that the people were too powerful and mighty for them. Moses tried to convince the people that they did not need to fear the people of the land because God would fight for them. However, the people refused to trust God and resisted going into the land. God was angry with them and swore that none of them, excepting only Caleb and Joshua, would enter the land of His promise. After the Lord told them that He would not allow them to enter the land because of their rebellion, the people changed their minds and attempted to conquer the land. Moses tried to convince them not to go because God had withdrawn His blessing on the attack. The people did not listen to Moses and were badly defeated.
This passage contains two important lessons for us. The first is that we should judge all people the same. We need to treat the wealthy and the poor, the powerful and the powerless the same. They are all equal before God and we should view them the same. The second lesson is that we need to follow God’s calling when it comes, sometimes the window of opportunity for certain calls is narrow. We need to learn not to fear man when God is calling us to take action. I struggle with this one because I struggle with knowing what God is calling me to.
Another sales display at the Peter Becker Home Flower Show
After Jesus called Levi, the tax collector, to be His disciple, Levi threw a lavish dinner for Jesus at his house. Levi invited his friends and acquaintances. As you might expect these were not the “righteous and upright” members of society. They were the “wild child” people, known for their sinful lifestyles. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law asked Jesus’ disciples why they ate with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus answered them that the healthy do not need a doctor, rather it is the sick who need a doctor. This is a message that we cannot fulfill our mission to reach out to the lost if we never spend any time with them. Jesus spent time socializing with and going to the parties of sinners, we should do the same.
The Pharisees then confronted Jesus with the fact that His disciples did not spend time fasting. Jesus told them that they did not need to fast while He was with them. He goes on to tell them that we do not take cloth from a new garment to patch an old one because that results in a torn new garment and an ugly old one. In a similar manner, we do not put new wine in old wine skins because as the new wine ferments it will break the old wine skins. Interestingly, Jesus follows this up by saying that no one has been drinking old wine says that they want to switch to new wine because old wine is better.
One Sabbath, Jesus and His disciples were walking through some grain fields. The disciples picked a few grains and rubbed them between their hands and ate the kernels. The Pharisees confronted Jesus about His disciples doing that which was not lawful on the Sabbath. Jesus replies by telling them that David took some of the consecrated bread that only priests are allowed to eat and shared it with his men. On another Sabbath, Jesus goes into a synagogue and began to teach. There was a man in the synagogue with a crippled hand. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. Jesus had the man stand in front of the entire crowd. He then asked the crowd, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”
Having established with His rhetorical question that it is never wrong to do good for someone else, He healed the man’s hand. Jesus made it clear that it is never wrong to do good for someone.
More sales display at the Peter Becker Home Flower Show
Let all the world praise God for He has done mighty deeds. God has tested us and purified us. I will tell you what God has done for me. He has done marvelous things for me. When I have cried out to Him in frustration and gloom He has answered me. When I was at the end of my endurance He granted me change and relief. I confessed my sins of arrogance and pride (as well as many others) and He listened to me. He has listened to me and provided me with hope when I felt like there was no reason to go on. I will praise the Lord with all of my being.
Those who are generous become wealthy, while those who are stingy become poor. If you are willing to help others when times are good for you, others will help you when times are bad for you. People curse those who hoard necessities in time of trouble, but bless those who are willing to sell to others. When you are kind and generous to others, they will generally be kind and generous in return and even when they are not, generosity is still its own reward.
