For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 14:11-12

    It is interesting how the proverb writer contrasts the “house of the wicked” with the “tent of the godly”. The wicked may attempt to build permanent dwelling places, but what they build will not last. The godly are satisfied with temporary dwellings, yet their temporary homes will have a longer lasting impact than anything permanent put in place by the wicked.

Psalm 100:1-5

    This psalm is wonderful. It is short, so it doesn’t take long to read. Verse three stands out to me today:

Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Although the joy expressed by the entire psalm resonates in my mind this morning.

Luke 24:13-53

    The story of the two men walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus should resonate with all of us. They had seen God’s work, and they did not understand. They had enough of the facts to reach the correct conclusion, but they could not accept that some of their basic assumptions about the world were wrong. They knew Jesus was a great teacher who performed mighty miracles. They had believed He was the Messiah, but the chief priests had had Him crucified. Now He was dead. They did not know what to make of the claims that Jesus was alive. It was not until Jesus explained it all too them yet again that they began to understand. And even then it was only when Jesus broke bread and gave it to them that they recognized Him.
    We are often like this. God shows us something through what happens in the world around us, but we just cannot get our minds around the idea that the world does not work the way we thought it did. Until the Holy Spirit shows us that we already knew that the world did not work that way. Some people learn to know Jesus on the “Road to Emmaus”, others require the “Road to Damascus.”

Judges 9:22-10:18

    The story of Abimelech, his rise to power, and his relationship with the city of Shechem shows us what happens when people choose a leader for bad reasons. The people of Shechem supported Abimelech because they thought he would bring benefit to them at the expense of the rest of the Israelites. They gave him the support he needed to kill his brothers. They discovered that someone who would kill his own brothers to attain power would not treat anyone else any better.

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

Proverbs 14:11-12

    Even though the wicked have established a permanent residence while the righteous are still living in transient housing (house vs tent), The righteous will flourish and remain while the wicked will be forced to move on. The second part of this proverb is an important warning, a path may seem like the right way to go, but lead to death. We must choose our paths carefully.

Psalm 100:1-5

    This psalm fills me with joy this morning. I am the Lord’s. I belong to Him and am glad to reside in His everlasting love.

Luke 24:13-53

    Luke tells us about the two disciples walking to Emmaus because it gives us an insight into the thinking of all of the disciples on the first Easter. They had been sure that Jesus was the Messiah, but then things did not go the way they expected. He was arrested and crucified. That wasn’t the way it was supposed to work. He was supposed to emerge victorious over the Romans. They did not know what to think about the report from the women that Jesus had risen from the dead, after all, they were women. How often are we guilty of the same thing? We get a glimpse of God’s working and think we understand where He is going, then when it doesn’t work out that way, we think our initial insight must have been wrong. We rarely consider that maybe the insight was right, it was just our understanding of where things went from there that was wrong.

Judges 9:22-10:18

    The people of Shechem realized their mistake in supporting someone just because he sounded good and rebelled against Abimelech. Abimelech heard of their rebellion and brought his army to Shechem, where he destroyed the city and killed the people. Apparently by then the rebellion had spread, so Abimelech took his army to the next town and attacked it. However, just as he appeared to have won the battle, he was struck down and died. The story of Abimelech reminds us of the importance of choosing our leaders with care. It also warns those of us who aspire to positions of leadership that we will pay a price for misusing the authority we are given.