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.

     In today’s passage Ezekiel describes the sacrifices and rituals that are to be performed after the children of Israel are restored from exile. As I read this I can see the beauty and solemnity of the rituals. There is a certain quality to rituals that allows us to submerge our concerns for our daily troubles into worship of the Lord. It is a fine line because all too easily the ritual becomes the focus rather than something that places our focus on God. I struggle with the issue of rituals because, as a Mennonite, I come from a tradition that has focused more on the dangers of rituals than the benefits. I will strive to develop rituals that allow me to submerge my concerns for the issues of daily life and place my focus on God.

     Peter tells us to think clearly and exercise self-control. We must not slip into living to satisfy our own desires. We should strive to be holy, just as God is holy. God paid a price to rescue us from the empty meaningless life we led before His Spirit came upon us. God does not play favorites so we must live in reverent fear of Him, recognizing that we are foreigners in this world. We place our trust in God because He raised Jesus from the dead. In response to this wondrous gift let us show sincere love for one another.
     We need to avoid all sorts of dishonesty and deceit. It is not enough that what we say is technically true. We are to avoid telling people partial truths that we know will lead them to believe something that is not true. Further we need to avoid hypocrisy, jealousy and unkind speech. We need to avoid all that because we are being built into God’s Temple with Jesus as the cornerstone. We must avoid behaviors that might block others from coming to Christ and worshiping God. Instead we should offer spiritual sacrifices that are pleasing to God. I need to sacrifice my desires and the things that I desire in order to better serve the Lord. I will trust that the Temple that God is building with Christ as the cornerstone will be an architectural masterpiece despite the critiques of those who do not trust in Christ.

     These two stanzas are indeed my prayer today. O Lord give me the wisdom to follow Your commands, Make me eager to do your will rather than eager to acquire wealth. Turn my eyes away from the worthless things of this world and instead focus my sight upon you. Help me to abandon my shameful, sinful ways so that I may live to bring glory to Your Name.
     I ask O Lord that you do not take your word of truth from me. I will study God’s words and hide them in my heart so that I may meditate on them all of my days. Let me not be ashamed to speak of God’s commands and what they mean to me, whether I am speaking to the rich and powerful or to the poor and lowly. I resolve to follow the Lord’s commands and delight in them in the face of any ridicule that comes my way.

     The rich often mistake their ability to gather wealth for wisdom, but the poor person with understanding is not fooled.