This reflection is based on two words that didn’t appear in today’s reading. Although the CEV Bible omits them, in the Hebrew text and other Bible translations, Abraham greeted the three men with “My Lord.”
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These verses are straightforward advice about marriage. They are a warning to remain faithful, to be content, to be happy, to “stay deeply in love.” Contrary to the modern day norm, the writer of this proverb seems to assume that all of these things are attainable, not matters of fate or fancy, but matters of choice and deliberate intention. And the key is faithfulness.
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The ancient Israelites were storytellers. They were given a God-directive to keep their history alive by sharing their stories. “These are things we learned from our ancestors and we will tell them to the next generation.”
Read More pain, prayer, faithfulnessThese next two chapters are central to the story of the Old Testament. God is coming down to meet and speak with his own people. They are his own because they are descended from Abraham, and he has led them back from slavery in Egypt. God has redeemed them from the might of Pharaoh. He has provided for them in the wilderness and he has been with them in the pillar of fire and cloud.
Read More obedience, covenant, holiness, faithfulnessMy husband is a pastor to an elderly audience. Consequently we spend considerable time sitting at the bedside of people who are getting ready to pass into eternity. Conversations with dying people give us harsh realities of how we need to be intentional about living without regret.
Read More faithfulness, regret, dying, friendsIt must have been a temptation to Gideon when the people asked him to be their king. But Gideon faced that temptation and refused it. He rightly told the people that they could only follow God, not any person. It seems strange then that Gideon turns around and runs right into the arms of temptation! And one of the greatest temptations is bright, shiny objects. At the very moment when Gideon turns his back on the temptation of kingship, he asks for gold that he makes into an ephod. An ephod was an item of ceremonial clothing generally worn by priests.
Read More temptation, faithfulness, egoWelcome to one of the only stories in the Bible told from a woman’s perspective. Quickly read, it is a beautifully told ancient love story. But slow it down, and you find penetrating truths about God’s goodness and about faith.
Today, we meet the main character, Ruth, who could never have imagined we would know her name 3,000 years later!
Read More trust, faith, faithfulnessHave you ever bargained with God? “Dear God, if you help me with _____ I promise I will ______.” In this passage we meet a woman who does just that.
Hannah is a married woman who has no children. In her day, being barren was a humiliation, often believed to be a punishment from God. Her barrenness was also a social embarrassment to her husband. But Elkanah loved her so much that her inability to have children didn’t matter to him.
Read More faithfulness, promiseEver feel out of step with the world? You should. We are counter-cultural people. Our citizenship is in heaven. As such it can feel like we are swimming against the current. David laments this fact when he cries out to the Lord in Psalm 12:1, “Please help me, Lord! All who were faithful and all who were loyal have disappeared.”
In our culture talk is cheap.
Read More faithfulness, word of God, counter-cultureMany great leaders have found it difficult to pass on the baton of leadership. Samuel was different!
At a public meeting, Samuel did five things:
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