Day 16 - Week 3 Day 2 Integrity and Rules

Today's reading

Genesis 26
Psalms 15
Isaiah 13:6 to end of 13
Matthew 12:1-21

Thoughts for the day

1.    In Psalms 15, David asks the LORD, "Who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?"  The answer?  A person walking with integrity and works righteousness (reflecting His holy character through just and moral actions).  David goes on to explain it's someone who doesn't slander, or does evil, or takes up reproach (shame, disgrace, severe criticism) against his friend.  David describes other things as well but the one that I notice is "keeps and oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind"(NIV).  That one cut's through because I'm hearing "Don't make a promise that you're not going to keep."

I make promises all the time.  Sometimes it's giving my "word" that I'll do something.  Often my wife asks me to do things and I say I'll do it, but sometimes I don't get it done.  I'm fortunate that Syl is very forgiving but this makes me think twice when I promise to do something.  So as an example, I said I was going to take the laundry downstairs to the washer a while ago.  I'm going to pause now to take it downstairs because I promised before I sat down to read!

(pause, FAIL!!!! She already took it down)  Sigh'

To continue - I think this is what David is talking about.  We expect broken promises from politicians and it's why it's difficult to be a Jesus Follower and politician because politicians make promises and often break them when they are in power.

2.    Psalms 15 refers to matters of the heart once again but so does Matthew 12.  Jesus is getting the gears from the religious people of the day (Pharisees).  They are giving Jesus a hard time because Jesus disciples were picking the heads of grain and eating them on the Sabbath.  Jesus eventually, in verse 7 explains "I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE".  So what is Jesus saying?  I think he's saying "Compassion is far more important than religious rules"!  Jesus moves on to the synagogue and there's a man with a withered hand and the religious folks tried to trap him with "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"  Jesus goes ahead and heals the man and sums up his statements in reponse to those religious folks, "Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?"

The law was put in place to help the people see the heart of God.  At some point over time the law became about the law!  The view of God's heart was missing.  There are some times when we do things for the wrong reasons when we are not pursuing the heart of God.  Recently as I have moved towards full retirement (I officially retired 3 years ago but still work part time) my wife and I have been at a different angle on my part time work.  We have accumulated a little debt from our renovations and we need to either replace the truck (we need it for towing our RV) or spend a considerable amount on the existing truck.  I keep saying I need to continue the part time and my wife wants me to quit working.  So at the end of this month, we've agreed that I'll quit working apart from one day every other week (there are reasons for the one day which I will not make public but it may be related to a staff discount).  You see, I don't believe in retirement, I believe in occupation change.  So what fills the gap?

I wake up every morning now pumped....not because I am excited about work, or renos, it's because I want to get to my Bible, open it up and find out what God wants me to write here that may have a positive affect on others.  How exciting!!!  This is not a pay job, this is where I find joy in the Heart of God!  Wish I had started this 50 years ago!!!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 15 - Week 3 Day1 Let Your Heart Rest

Today's reading Genesis 24:61 - End of 25 Psalms 14 Isaiah 12 - 13:5 Matthew 11 Thought for today (sorry but this is heavy) Today my heart is heavy.  I couldn't sleep well.  I figured that I may as well get up and do my morning reading and blog post.  So much is going on this world!  So much death.  So much war.  I long for what we read about yesterday of the eventual peace that will be in God's Kingdom.  In Psalm 14 from today's reading, we read "The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God."  They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good...They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. "  This is a Psalm of David, Israel's great king who God describes as a man after His own heart.  I think it's because David always wore his heart on his sleeve.  He was real and you see it in the Psalms he wrote.   My heart is heavy because...
Read more

Day 25 Week 4 Day 4 Green Pastures

Today's reading (Bible in 1 year) Genesis 36 Psalm 23 Isaiah 22:1-14 Matthew 17 Last evening, my wife, Sylvia, read a statement to me from a bishop in the Episcopalian church in New Hampshire.  He advised his Episcopal clergy to get their affairs and wills in order "because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable".  Sometimes, peacemaking puts one in the place where death is a possibility in the protection of the most vulnerable.  It's an ominous thing to think about. Today we read Psalm 23.  What a powerful Psalm to read in it's fullness but hopefully you just read it and I'll simply mention verse 4 where it says " Even though I walk through the valley of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me " Did you hear that?   You are with me! On November 16, 2025 my mom passed away and went to be with Jesus, 2 days before her 98th birthday.  My mo...
Read more

Day 20 - Week 3 Day 6 The Rock

Today's reading (Bible in 1 Year) - If you have not read my introduction or blog from the beginning, I felt a strong motivation to read the whole Bible in a year and discover something new each day to share. Genesis 30:25 - end of 30 Psalm 18 Isaiah 17 Matthew 13:44 - end of 13 Thought for the day We have rocks!  We live on a rocky shore and our whole property is full of rocks.  You can't dig down more than 6" anywhere on our property and not find a rock.  It's very frustrating when you're trying to dig a garden or plant a tree.  Interesting though, they shift.  Every spring, my mower finds new rock locations.  During the winter freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw (that's how it is here), the rocks in the ground shift again and again.   There is one rock on our property that does not shift!  At the shore we have a lava rock outcropping.  It's goes out about 20 ft and and at high tide, you can touch the water from it. ...
Read more