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.
Today I begin reading the Song of Solomon. This is a book often recommended to young Christian couples. There is certainly some merit to that. You should feel that the Song of Solomon expresses your feelings toward the person you intend to make your spouse before you commit to such an action. Certainly this passage captures my feelings for my wife:
my treasure, my bride.
You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes,
with a single jewel of your necklace.
In addition this passage twice advises women not to “awaken love before the time is right.” I am pretty sure that in the context this is a reference to sexual activity. I am also pretty sure it contains within it an admonition about how sexual activity is connected to marital love. We, as human beings, are designed to develop an attachment to those we have sexual relations with. Which is why the Bible repeatedly warns against premarital sex, adultery and sexual promiscuity. Such activities will lead us into deeper relationships with inappropriate people than is healthy for us or for them.
Paul tells the Church in Corinth that Titus was eager to fulfill Paul’s request that he return to Corinth to collect what the Church in Corinth had collected for the relief of the Christians in Jerusalem. He tells them that he is sending with Titus two fellow Christians who had been chosen by the churches to accompany Paul as he took the money to the Christians in Jerusalem. Paul points out that this was done so that there would be no question that the money that was collected was used as intended. This is an important point for those collecting donations to do ministry. Make sure to structure the way that money is handled to ensure that it you can show that the money is spent according to the standards and priorities that you collected it under. It is also a standard we should follow when considering donating to charities. Do they provide a way that you can ensure that they are spending the money in a manner that aligns with their declared reasons for raising the money?
The psalmist tells us that God has already gathered the people of earth to judgement. God tells us that he has no complaint with our sacrifices and offerings to Him, but that He does not need them because everything is already His. He tells us that what He desires is for us to follow His commands and be thankful to Him for all that He has done for us. This does not mean that we should not give to worthy causes and make offerings to support God’s work. It just means that we need to remember that doing so does not obligate God to us. We can only ask for things that we desire and need. We should be thankful for everything that God gives us, even those things we don’t think we want. There are probably many other messages that can be gleamed from this psalm, but the one that comes to me today is that we can never obligate God to do anything for us. What God does for us is always out of His loving generousness and we are obligated to be thankful for what we receive.
Today’s proverb should be one that no one who claims to be a Christian should need reminding of. Just because you can do something does not make it right. If we use our power to advance ourselves at the expense of others, God will claim restitution. Sometimes people think that it is OK to abuse power they have in petty areas because the one they are so abusing has more power in other areas. God will judge us for that just as much as He will judge a Supreme Court Justice for abusing his power.