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.

     God instructed the people of Israel that the breast and right thigh of their peace offerings were to be the portion of the priests. The passage then goes on to describe the actual ordination of Aaron and his sons as priests. The ordination occurred over a period of seven days. On the eighth day, Aaron and his sons took up the duties of the priesthood and began offering sacrifices for the children of Israel. On the first day he took up his office as high priest, Aaron was instructed to offer a sin offering and a burnt offering for himself and his sons. The people of Israel were instructed to bring a sin offering, a burnt offering and a peace offering. The animals for these sacrifices were brought to the Tent of Meeting and the entire community gathered before the Lord.
     The people did not come one by one to make their offerings to make themselves right with God. They came as an entire community. Our relationship with God is both individual and communal. We must each personally enter into a relationship with God, but we do so as part of the community of God’s people.

     Today’s passage begins with a follow-up to yesterday’s passage. Yesterday, we were told that Jesus’ family set out to take charge of Him because they thought He had lost His mind. In today’s passage, His mother and His brothers arrive at the place He was teaching. He is in a house surrounded by a crowd. His mother and brothers send someone in to call Him out to them. When Jesus was told that His mother and brothers were outside, He rhetorically asks the crowd who His family is. He then indicates those seated around listening to Him and tells them that they are His mother and brothers and sisters, that those who do the will of God are His family. We still do not learn why His family decided to not take charge of Him.
     We have Mark’s version of the parable of the sower. Mark’s description of Jesus’ explanation of the parable is shorter than that given in Matthew, but much the same. First Jesus explains why He preaches in parables. Jesus taught in parables so that those listening who did not take the time to understand would hear what He said but be unable to comprehend what He was saying. I think He was talking about those who get caught up in creating a carefully spelled out set of rules about what Jesus’ teachings were. Jesus told stories that explained how we should live, rather than giving rules we should follow. We need to learn to live our lives so that they look like the stories Jesus told. There are not a set of rules we can follow and check off, “Yup, did that. Now I just need to do that and that and I’m golden.” Getting back to the parable of the sower, every time I read it I fear that I am in the third group. I always fear that I have gotten so caught up in my day-to-day life, going to work, paying the bills, etc, that I have failed to put proper emphasis on following and sharing God’s Word. That I have failed to produce the fruit that I am called to bear.
     The next parable Jesus tells is the parable of the lampstand. We do not light a lamp and put it under a bowl or a bed. Instead we put it on a stand so that its light may cover the greatest area possible. We should strive to do the same. We should strive that as many people as possible see our faith and know that we strive to follow the teachings of Jesus. That message is followed up with the next thing Jesus said. The measure we use to give will be used to give to us. If we have received few blessings from God, perhaps that is because we have not given much of God’s blessings to others (whether in material things or in spiritual things). I will strive to give more of God’s blessings to those around me.

     The psalmist tells us that the wicked become angry with the righteous and plot against them. But God merely laughs at the posturing of the wicked because He knows that their plans will turn against them. It is better to be righteous and have little than to be wealthy yet wicked because in time the wicked will face judgment for their wicked acts while the righteous will receive God’s commendation. The righteous will receive God’s protection and when disaster strikes, He will care for them.
     There is a line in this psalm that I think applies to our current society, “The wicked borrow and never repay.” This is a strong indictment of our society. All too many in our society borrow without ever considering how they will repay the loan. They borrow money to purchase something and then borrow more money to pay the debt, constantly going from debt to more debt. The psalmist contrasts this with the righteous who he says are always generous and lend freely. The psalmist tells us that he was young and now he is old, but in all that time he has never seen God abandon the righteous. God will keep the godly safe forever.

     The proverb tells us that the wise youth harvests when the crops are ready for harvest and the one who chooses to let that time go by in sloth is a disgrace. We should spend the time to gather goods when we are in the prime of our life so that we have resources when our strength begins to fail.