For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    If you can do good for someone who deserves it, don’t put it off. If someone needs your help, deserves your help, and you could help right now, DO IT. Don’t wait until tomorrow, that might be too late.

    God is my master because every good thing I have comes from Him. When I look at the world around me I realize that it is the godly who are the true heroes. Being an athlete, a pop music star, or a movie star, or any other kind of pop culture star does not make one a hero. Those are not the people we should hold up to be honored. Instead, I will honor those who do the will of God.

    Jesus says that whoever is not for Him is against Him. Yet, shortly after the Transfiguration,He told the disciples that whoever is not against us is for us. These two statements seem in contradiction. However, when taken together they tell us something about Jesus and Christian faith that people often try to sidestep. There is not such thing as being neutral when it comes to Jesus. Sooner or later everyone must reach a decision. They are either for Him, or against Him. You must decide if you believe that He is your Savior, the Son of God, or you must believe that He is some combination of crazy/evil.
    There are those who try to get around this choice by saying that He is fictional. However, that only puts off the problem for a bit. If you believe that He is fictional, you will still have to decide whether the teachings attributed to Him are good or evil. Ultimately, the teachings attributed to Jesus cannot truly be good if Jesus is a fictional character. This leaves you with the conclusion that those teachings are evil when taken as a whole, even though you may think some of them are bad. So, either Jesus was God, and the only path to salvation, or He was evil/crazy (or the invention of evil/crazy people). Those are the only two options and, sooner or later, everyone is going to have to choose between them.

    I find the story of Judah and Tamar interesting. One thing I wondered about when I was younger was why God made the Israelites slaves in Egypt. Why did His chosen people have to suffer through that slavery? I found that answer in the story of Judah and Tamar. Judah thought nothing of joining into pagan worship by visiting a shrine prostitute. I take Judah’s attitude as typical of his brothers. If Jacob’s sons were already casually integrating with the pagan practices in this way, how long would it have been before they had completely adopted the local practices?
    So, the answer to the question I started this section with is, the Israelites had to suffer through slavery in order to forge them into a people separated from others by their worship of God. We see this still to this day. From time to time the Church becomes too much a part of society around us. When that happens, God allows persecution to arise in order to call His people out from the midst of society so that they will renew their dedication and love for Him.

     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. My work schedule has recently changed, meaning that I may not have time every day to complete these. As a result, I am trying to get several days ahead. I hope this does not negatively impact the quality of these posts (if that is possible). If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

     We have here the story of Joseph’s early life. Since he was the first son of Rachel, Joseph was Jacob’s favorite. This resulted in him being spoiled. His father gave him gifts that were much nicer than those he gave his other sons and Joseph was a tattletale. Then to compound things, he had dreams which showed him ruling over his brothers, and over his father and mother. Worse, he told his brothers about his dreams, and, while the passage does not say so, I am pretty sure he talked about the obvious interpretation of the dreams and told his brothers he was their better.
     Later his father sent him to get a report about his brothers. When he arrived at where they were, his brothers decided to take out their resentment on him. However, Reuben, the eldest, had second thoughts and convinced the other brothers to throw him in a cistern, intending to return later and let him go. While Reuben was away from the rest of them, Judah had the idea of selling Joseph to a caravan of merchants. When Reuben returned and found Joseph gone, he lost his composure and worried what he would tell his (and Joseph’s) father. However, his brothers convinced him that they should dip Joseph’s coat in blood and send it to their father saying that they had found it.
     There is an important lesson for us in this passage relative to how Joseph handled his dreams, dreams which were messages from God. What we learn is that just because God has revealed something to us, we don’t necessarily have to tell everybody about it.

     A demon possessed man who could not see or speak. Jesus healed the man so that he could both speak and see. The crowds were amazed and began to ask if perhaps He might be the Messiah. The response of the Pharisees was that the only reason He could cast out demons was because He got His power from Satan. Jesus first points out that it makes no sense to believe that Satan would give someone the power to cast out demons, since that would mean that Satan was fighting against himself. He follows up this up by asking them who gives power to their own exorcists. He concludes this argument by telling them that if He casts out demons by the power of God it means that the Kingdom of God is among them. I think that He is suggesting that the reason they are denying that God is working through Him is because they are afraid to face the Kingdom of God in their midst.
     Jesus then tells us that those who are not with Him are against Him. That those who are not working with Him to bring God’s kingdom into this world are working against it. Those who attribute the acts of the Holy Spirit to Satan are committing the one sin which cannot be forgiven. Finally, Jesus tells us that we can judge people by the results of their actions. If others are better off because of what they do, they are good people. On the other hand, if others suffer as a result of their actions they are evil people.

     Who do we hold up as heroes? The successful athlete? The movie or television star? Or do we follow the example of the psalmist and hold up the godly people of the land as our heroes? I will strive to emulate the godly and hold them up for others to do the same. I will not imitate those who worship gods other than God. I will be content with what God has given me, with the inheritance which is mine from Him. No, I will not just be content, I will be glad for what God has given me, whether it is great or small in the eyes of this world.

     This proverb is a wonderful piece of advice about how to live a good life. If you can assist someone who needs help now, do not put it off. Do good for others when the opportunity arises. Further it tells us not to betray those who have reason to trust us. Finally it warns us against admiring those who use violence to advance their interests, or to succumb to the temptation to imitate them.