I recently had a baby boy, who decided, after about 3.5 weeks of false labor contractions and me walking around 4cm dilated for a week, he would grace us with his appearance 2 days after his due date. For comparison, my firstborn came a week early with only those pesky Braxton Hicks contractions leading up to his debut. Anyone who has known me over the past 9 months knows that I was fully convinced this second baby was coming early. It felt like my entire mind was consumed by thinking about going into labor every moment of every day! I was grouchy, distracted, and mentally exhausted. My yearning brought me no closer to my baby, and really only made me more distant from everything positive going on around me.
The sons of Korah write in Psalm 84:2 “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” (NIV). The NET translation phrases it as “with my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God”. This verse paints a picture of absolute, consuming, desire for closeness with God. The chapter continues on to describe a blessed happiness that can be found when focused on praising the Almighty, when trusting in the Lord of Hosts! (v. 4, 12).
Psalm 85 continues this picture of desiring closeness with God, but takes a slightly different perspective. In Psalm 84, I get this imagery of excitement, anticipation, energized passion for God, whereas Psalm 85 depicts an image of peace, protection, and righteousness in relationship. There is still a deep longing for a connection, but it’s like comparing the honeymoon, “puppy-love” phase of a new marriage, to a secure, content, lifelong covenant marriage.
Verse 9 describes this type of relationship through salvation by fearing God. This “fear” is derived from the Hebrew word “yare”, which means to revere, or be afraid of because of profound respect . It’s not meant to be a fear that causes us to avoid approaching the throne, but rather a fear that places us in rightful, humble, submission to an awesome God, worthy of being revered, and yearned for. One that should make us say, “my whole source of joy is in you” (Ps. 87:7).
Even though babies are one of the greatest gifts, my yearning to deliver my son began to impact my relationship with God (and others!) as I began to prioritize birth over my spiritual relationship with the One who made life. I wanted to control the timing, and I wanted it to be now! But, when I started to misplace my priorities, I felt less joy, less excitement, and less peace about the whole situation. How often does this happen in our lives? We begin to place closeness to someone or something above our desire for closeness with God… and unsurprisingly, we don’t get the same satisfaction we may have been hoping for. We can become bitter, resentful, stressed, you name it… anything but joyful. Yearning with such intenseness for the wrong things in life, even when they are good things, will never lead to a joy-filled life. BUT, when we keep ourselves yearning intensely for a relationship with God, and when we humble ourselves to Him, we experience true joy, true peace, and true satisfaction, only He can deliver!
(And baby boy arrived healthy and happy, just when God intended him too 🙂)
Sarah (Blanchard) Johnson
Reflection Questions
Evaluate your faith walk right now – would you describe yourself as yearning for a relationship with God? What other aspects in your life might you be misplacing above your relationship with Him?
What steps can you take to practice fearing, or revering, God today?
These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. -1 Chronicles 2:1-2 (ESV)
If you’ve been reading along with me this week, you may have noticed I like lists. In fact, it’s kind of an obsession of mine. I have lists for pretty much everything – grocery lists, daily to-do lists, lists for upcoming birthdays and anniversaries, to-do lists of projects (for me and for my husband), packing lists for trips, lists of nursery helpers and teachers at church, so many lists.
Lists can be great as reminders. Yesterday and today we have read through the first two chapters in 1 Chronicles. I know the headings aren’t actually “Biblical”, but they are helpful. 1 Chronicles 1:1-24 is the genealogy from Adam to Abraham. Verses 28 – 34 is the genealogy from Abraham to Jacob (Israel). 1 Chronicles 2:1-15 is the genealogy of David. Now, I don’t particularly like to read the genealogies in the Bible, or anywhere, really. I usually skim through them and pause at the names of characters in the Bible I recognize.
But God wanted them in the Bible, in His Word, so they must have a purpose. I know God had special tasks for different tribes. I know that prophecies that tell of Jesus’ lineage rely on genealogies to prove he was the Messiah. So, don’t write them off too quickly, even if you don’t read every name.
A short devotion to make up for the long list of names you just waded through!
Amy Blanchard
Reflection Questions
Consider your own genealogy. There are people in your lineage who have shaped your life and your faith. Is there anyone you want to thank? Or thank God for?
I encourage you to read the Psalms for today as well. A great prayer for every moment of every day is Psalm 19:14, “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” In looking back over your day, at what time would you have been happy to say this prayer? When would you have wanted to hide your words and thoughts (meditation) from God? Praise God for His forgiveness!
Like Psalm 34, which we highlighted yesterday, Psalm 56 for today was also written when the Philistines had seized David in Gath. And just like yesterday’s psalm, this one starts with David begging God for help.
Then, in verses 3 and 4, David says this, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?”
I see a pattern here that David liked to repeat:
He acknowledged his fear, “When I am afraid.” Fear is a natural reaction when in danger – either real or perceived.
David then made a deliberate decision to trust God. This is not a normal reaction, it is an intentional decision, flying in the face of the natural fear.
David praised God for delivering him – before he had been delivered. (In this case, David praised God’s word, but often, he just praised God.) When David did this, he was stepping out on faith, believing God would answer his prayers.
Finally, in the assurance God would help him, David banished his fear, “I will not be afraid.”. Notice he chose to not fear what mortal man could do to him.
This reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:28, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
This is a pattern I have also tried to follow in my own life. Many times, I have cried out to God, confessing my fear. I have then made a deliberate decision to trust that whatever God has for me is best, whether I know it (or like it) or not. Then praise God for his promise that all things work together for my good – because I love God. Finally, with God’s help, I let Him lift my burden off my shoulders, whether it is fear, or whatever else it is.
With the fears swirling around now, whether Covid-19, or unemployment, or difficulty finding what you want at the grocery store, or … You have a choice. You can succumb to fear, or you can follow David’s example.
I challenge you to try this pattern with whatever makes you fearful today. Then you can say, like David wrote in yesterday’s reading from Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” And from today’s reading in 56:11, “In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
–Steve Mattison
(originally posted April 15, 2020 for SeekGrowLove)
Reflection Questions
What have you been afraid about in the past? What has God already successfully brought you through?
When is fear helpful? Do you have a healthy fear of God? Do you fear only God?
What makes you fearful today (besides God)? Would you like to conquer this fear? Write out David’s steps to replace fear with faith and keep them in a place you will see often and practice working through the steps – over and over again.
In today’s reading, we see more examples of Saul’s rebellion against God and his hatred of David. Ahimelech the priest had inquired of the Lord for David. In his rage, Saul ordered that not only Ahimelech, but all the priests must be killed – so Doeg the Edomite, one of Saul’s goons, killed 85 priests, then went to their town and killed every man, woman, and child (and its cattle, donkeys, and sheep). In chapter 23, Saul chased David and tried to kill him multiple times.
In chapter 24, David finally has his opportunity for revenge. Saul was again chasing David. David and his men were hiding in the Desert of En Gedi. Saul and 3000 chosen troops were in hot pursuit. Along the way, Saul needed to go to the bathroom. He wanted a little privacy, so he stepped into a cave to relieve himself. Little did he know that David and his men were hiding further back in that very cave.
If you were David, what would you have done? Would you have eliminated the threat to your life, and ushered in your reign as king? To be perfectly honest, I think that’s exactly what I would have done. David’s men encouraged David to kill Saul, but instead, David crept up to Saul, and cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.
Afterward, David was conscience stricken and said, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.”
Wow! Clearly Saul was a scoundrel, but David spared his life because God had made him king. I think we can learn a lesson or two from David’s respect for the office of authority, even when the man in the office wasn’t worthy of respect.
This is exactly what we’re told to do in 1 Peter 2:13-14 – “For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right.”
David’s actions also remind me of Romans 12:17-18 – “Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”
So too, we need to submit to authority, even when we don’t like the person in authority, or what they are doing. Also, we need to be intentional about never repaying evil for evil.
To finish today’s story, because David had spared Saul’s life, Saul promised to leave David alone, and returned home (for now). David and his men went up to their stronghold. God had protected David yet again.
Steve Mattison
(originally posted April 13, 2020 for SeekGrowLove)
Reflection Questions
What do you admire about David?
When have you found it difficult to pass when given the opportunity for revenge, a cutting comment, or having the last word? What is the world’s position on paying back evil for evil? What is God’s? What is the advantage to leaving it up to God to be the judge, rather than taking out revenge for wrongs done against us?
In what ways do you think God wants to see Christians submit to authority today?
Today’s reading, found in 1 Samuel chapters 18 through 20, highlights how far Saul has fallen from his successes of chapter 14. (Remember from chapter 15, that Saul had deliberately disobeyed a direct command from God, and things have been going from bad to worse for him since.)
In 18:10-11, we read, “The very next day a tormenting spirit from God overwhelmed Saul, and he began to rave in his house like a madman. David was playing the harp, as he did each day. But Saul had a spear in his hand, and he suddenly hurled it at David, intending to pin him to the wall. But David escaped him twice.”
Once Saul decided to abandon God, God not only abandoned Saul, God tormented Saul. This should be a lesson to us – never disobey God – there are always negative consequences.
Saul became jealous of David, after David had killed Goliath, because the women of Israel sang this song, “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” As a result of his jealousy, Saul tried to kill David with his spear in 18:11 and again in 19:10. Saul also tried to kill David by having the Philistines kill him in 18:17, 21, 25. In 19:1, Saul urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. In 19:15, Saul ordered his men to bring David (and his bed) to Saul to be killed, when Saul thought David was sick in bed. In 19:20, 21 and 22 Saul unsuccessfully sent troops to get David three times.
In 20:30, Saul boiled with rage at his own son, Jonathan, who was friends with David, and in 20:33, Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him.
So much for Saul, what about David?
If you were David, how would you react? What would you do?
Remember that Samuel had anointed David in chapter 16, and declared that David would be the next king over Israel. So what did David do? He wrote some songs about this. Let’s see what he said in those songs…
David wrote Psalm 59 when Saul sent his soldiers to watch David’s house in order to kill him. This psalm starts out, “Rescue me from my enemies, O God. Protect me from those who have come to destroy me. Rescue me from these criminals; save me from these murderers. They have set an ambush for me…”. This makes sense. David was in trouble, so he cried out to God for help. David continues in verse 9, “You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God, are my fortress.”
Then an astounding thing happens. David starts praising God – in advance of God’s rescuing him. Psalm 59 ends with, “But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning, I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. O my strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.”
David, the man after God’s own heart was actually praising God when he was literally afraid for his life. This shows his great faith that God will indeed rescue him. Maybe this is one of the reasons he was called a “man after God’s own heart.”
Psalm 11, the other chapter from today’s reading also shows David’s faith through difficulty. It starts out, “I trust in the Lord for protection…”, and ends with “For the righteous Lord loves justice. The virtuous will see his face.”
I believe David’s response is a good example for us. When times are tough, it’s natural to cry out to God for help. We need to move on from just asking for help, and follow David’s example to also have faith and praise God, even before the answer comes. And in the process, we, too, may become people after God’s own heart.
–Steve Mattison
(originally posted April 12, 2020 for SeekGrowLove.com)
Reflection Questions
Compare and contrast Saul and David based upon what we know from 1 Samuel.
What do you see in your own life that is similar to Saul? And David?
What does it look like to show faith in God during the difficulty?
What difficulty (big or small) have you recently found yourself in, in which you can practice giving God praise even before the answer comes?
Being raised as a pastor’s kid, I probably took for granted the accessibility of all things church related. Being a Christian was something that was easily practiced because of the environment I was constantly in. I asked Jesus to come into my heart when I was 5 years old. I was baptized the summer before my eighth grade. But it wasn’t until I went off to college that I really realized that my faith was my own responsibility. If I was going to have Christian friends, I needed to find them on my own. If I was going to attend a mid-week Bible study, I needed to find it on my own. If I was going to attend a Sunday morning service, I needed to find it on my own. Mom and Dad weren’t there to guide and direct me. If I wanted to continue to build up my faith, it was now up to me.
As we read through King Saul’s life, we see that he was hand selected and groomed to take on the role of leading Israel – everything was handed to him. And as a result, he never really owned the responsibility of the position he was put in. He never connected the dots of being the leader of God’s people and having a relationship with God himself.
This is particularly evident in 1 Samuel 15. Saul has carried out God’s instructions of taking up arms against the Amalekites. Once Israel wins the battle, they were supposed to destroy everything: man, woman, child, cattle, sheep, camels and donkeys. Nothing was to be spared. But…that’s not what Saul did. He kept the best of the spoils. He claims that he was going to use the prime plunder as a sacrifice.
Here’s how I know that Saul didn’t own his relationship with God: in verses 21 and 30 of chapter 15, Saul refers to the LORD as Samuel’s God.
“…the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.” (v 21)
“…come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.” (v 30)
Saul didn’t understand his disobedience because he hadn’t bothered to grow a relationship with the One who made him king of Israel.
More than anything God desires to have a relationship with us. He wants us to seek Him more than any other person or pursue any other passion. When we grow our relationship with Him, we come to know the things that please Him as well as the things that displease Him. As we grow our relationship with God, our hearts swell with love for Him, His word, and His people. And when our hearts are full of love, obedience comes naturally.
Bethany Ligon
(originally posted for SeekGrowLove April 11, 2020)
Reflection Questions
Why is obeying Him important to God?
Have you ever felt like God is just someone else’s God?
Today’s chapters 23-25 (and 22) are like an action movie with a lot of suspense! Balak, King of Moab, looked out at the numerous Israelites camped nearby and was greatly afraid. He called upon a sorcerer to come and curse them, which God didn’t allow him to curse but blessed them!
Interestingly, Balaam (sorcerer) was confronted three times to go, three times his donkey refused to proceed and was hit, and three times he built seven altars and sacrificed a bull and ram on each (21x). Not sure of the significance of the tresome repeats but does show the intensity of the situation!
The Spirit of God came upon Balaam and he blessed Israel three times. In the three different oracles a meaningful phrase struck me with each one.
“How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?” (23:8)
“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.” (23:19)
“A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.” (24:17)
These biblical accounts are written in past, present, and future. God has not cursed or denounced the Israalites. God is not a man, nor past nor will be! Lastly, God will have a future dynasty in Israel.
This is not what Balak wanted to hear, but Balaam obeyed God’s command to only say what he was told to say. Unfortunately, he advised Balak further on how he could bring harm to Israel, and his advice unfortunately worked. The Israelite men were seduced by the foreign women to worship their gods, which brought great anger to the God of Israel. Sadly, more than 20,000 were killed in the plague as a result.
Do you have God’s number on speed dial? It’s easy to remember …Jeremiah 33:3
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel.”
He’s ALWAYS available, never sleeping anytime of the day.
-Stephanie Schlegel
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Who do you call upon for help? Depends what kind of help we need, right?
2. What’s God’s “phone number?” Do we go to the throne or phone when we need help?
3. Is there something today that you’re afraid of? What care needs to be cast upon Him today because He cares for you?
I have had a few different titles and roles in my life, pastor, reverend, spiritual director, chaplain, doctor. Of all of them, the one that I am most proud is Dad/Papa/Grandpa. If you do not know me from Adam, I have eleven children, six sons/daughters in law, and fifteen, soon to be sixteen grandchildren. Along with my wife Karen who I talked about earlier this week, these are my greatest loves and joys on this whole earth. One of Proverbs we looked at earlier this week included the following: “Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.” (Proverbs 17:6). This speaks of the importance of our families to our lives.
In today’s Proverb, I want to look at verse 7, which also speaks of the importance of family: “The righteous who walks in his integrity—blessed are his children after him!” (Proverbs 20:7). Growing up in the United States I have been exposed to important words like freedom. As a person who has spent the majority of my life in more conservative institutions I have been surrounded by ideas of “rugged individualism.” Since the emergence of neoliberalism in the 1970’s there has been this ongoing emphasis of personal responsibility. I grew up when the threat of Communist expansion was at a high point. Being surrounded by that cultural mindset it is easy to drift over into hyper-individualism. But is this what the Bible teaches?
There is a sense in which ultimately we are all responsible for the decisions that we make in life. If I make the decision to sin, I am the one who is answerable to God for my sin. I can’t say “it was my parents’ fault” or “it was my wife’s fault”. If you go back to the beginning of the Bible and the story of Adam and Eve in the garden, you can see how quick everyone was to try to shift the blame onto someone else. Adam famously tried to blame Eve, (or was he really blaming God?) “This woman that you made, she gave me the fruit”. The woman in turn blamed the serpent. God was having none of it.
A clear spiritual principle of the Bible is- each individual is accountable for their sins. Ezekiel 18:19-20 spells it out in very clear terms: “Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”
You could have the most wonderful, godly, spiritual parents in the world, but you do not automatically get to ride their coattails into the Kingdom of God. Once you reach a place of accountability, you alone are responsible for your commitment to follow Jesus Christ, or not. There are no legacy Christians. At the opposite extreme, you might have had the worst parents in all the world and suffered abuse or deprivation, maybe they never taught you about God or brought you to Sunday School or Vacation Bible School. You are still responsible when you grow to maturity. There are many people who came from terrible childhoods with not good parental spiritual support who meet Jesus Christ and allow him to transform their lives. From a spiritual/legal accountability standpoint, you are ultimately responsible for your sins and accepting Jesus Christ and following him.
Having said all of that, let me also say that we do NOT live only for ourselves. All of my children are now adults and they are accountable to God, but as a parent, I am accountable to God for how I parent my children. This was a clear principle give to God’s people, Israel from a very early time. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Parents are instructed by God to diligently instruct their children in the teachings of God.
It became fashionable in the 1960’s in America for parents to say “I’m not going to impose my religious faith and values on my children. I’ll let them decide for themselves.” That is one of the stupidest ideas in the history of ideas. The world is constantly trying to impose its values on children. It begins with some of the baby books designed to be read to babies and toddlers, children’s television shows, childhood education in schools, social media, the music and entertainment industry, advertising, their peers etc…Everyone tries to impose their values on children, especially those who try to tell parents not to impose their values on children. God says to parents, you have got to start indoctrinating (aka teaching good doctrine to) your children with God’s teaching from the time they are small. Talk about God and God’s teachings to your children all day long.
I’m writing to some of you who are now or soon expect to be parents, and even for you younger ones, file this away so that if you do become a parent you will remember it. How you live your life and how faithfully you teach your children will have a major influence on them. Proverbs 22:6 says that we should “train up a child in the way he (she) should go”. Should is a word that contains judgment. You need to decide what is right and wrong in God’s word and you need to train your child to adopt those same values. There is no 100% guarantee that you will be successful and that your children will choose to follow your training and God’s Word when they grow up, but you can do all that is in your power to set them up for success.
I was blessed with a mother and father who loved God, brought me to Church throughout my childhood, practiced prayer in the home and demonstrated their faith in God and taught me to do the same. Were they perfect? No, no parent is. But they helped to prepare me to choose to live a life of faith as an adult. Did I have failures and setbacks in living as a follower of Jesus. Absolutely. I am 100% responsible for my sinful choices both as a teenager and now as a 60-year-old man. But I have been the blessed recipient of having had parents of faith. I have tried to pass along those benefits to my children. Was I a perfect Dad? Are you kidding? I have eleven eyewitnesses who could tell you stories about some of the stupid and sinful stuff that their dad has done. (Good thing they have a really good mom). And yet, I hope that I was able to teach and model faith to my children diligently, and continue to try to live out my faith today (I think I’ve gotten a little better at figuring out how to be a good dad as I’ve gotten older). Now, some of them are parents and having to navigate the same thing in their lives. Now they are responsible for how they parent their children.
Sorry, but when you stand before the Lord, you can’t blame your parents for your sinful choices, you are responsible. You are also responsible for how you parent any children God gives you, and you can help to better set them up for spiritual success by teaching them diligently God’s Word, until the time that they themselves are accountable to God. Faith is learned and lived in a community. We are responsible for how we live it in our families, in our churches, and in our world.
~ Jeff Fletcher
QUESTIONS:
How have your parents influenced you to follow (or not follow) God?
What values do you want to pass on to your current or future children?
What responsibility do parents have to pass on their faith to their children?
How can you prepare yourself to pass on this faith well to the next generation?
I have spent the last 3 years of my life and academic studies focusing on the subject of human flourishing. Let me ask you a question this morning…Are you flourishing in your life? Would you like to? To flourish is to grow healthy, to thrive. I believe it is God’s ultimate goal for us to flourish. If you look at the Bible from beginning to end, it is all about flourishing. In Genesis God creates the heavens and the earth. He fills the earth with abundant plant and animal life and that places humans on the earth to act as his stewards. Humanities first job was to cultivate and enjoy a flourishing garden. God’s first command to humans was “be fruitful and multiply.” That is all flourishing language. At the end of the Bible, in Revelation 22 it shows the culmination of God’s plan to live with humans on a restores and renewed earth where there is flourishing. There is a picture of a river flowing from God’s throne and along the banks of the river are the tree of life that bears fruit all year long and whose leaves bring healing. This is, once again, flourishing language.
Throughout his ministry, Jesus uses the language of flourishing as well. He says things like “I have come that they might have abundant life.” (John 10:10). That is the language of flourishing. In John 15 he says that he is the vine and we are the branches. We must remain connected to him to bear fruit. This is flourishing language. Later, the Apostle Paul picks up this same language of flourishing. In Galatians 5:22-23 he speaks of the “fruit of the spirit” as love, joy, peace, patience, etc… This is most definitely flourishing language.
God wants His children to flourish. As we know, in order for a plant to flourish it needs certain conditions. It needs good soil with good nutrients, it needs the right amounts of sunlight and rain, it needs to be nurtured, weeds to be pulled, pruning, pests and parasites need to be kept away. In the same way, God’s children need to have conditions that are favorable to our flourishing. God lays these out throughout the Bible.
The week we are going to focus on Proverbs. I think it is helpful for us to think of the Proverbs as very simple and clear instructions on how to spiritually, emotionally, relationally and even physically flourish. To learn how to grow a flourishing garden you might want to talk to a wise and seasoned gardener who can give you insights into how to get the most flourishing. How to prepare the soil, when to plan the seeds of plants, how deep to plant, how far apart to space them, how much watering is needed, do they need more sun or more shade, when and how to prune. Proverbs give these kinds of practical wisdom instructions to help God’s people flourish.
Consider one of the short Proverbs in today’s reading: “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” (Proverbs 16:24). Raw honey has health benefits, it contains antioxidants and other good things, and it tastes sweet. I remember as a child seeing my very English grandfather put a giant teaspoon of honey into his cup of tea which he drank several times a day. He lived to be almost 100 (hey maybe I need to start putting honey in my tea?). So honey tastes good and is good for you, win-win, right? In that same way, in our spiritual, emotional and relational life, speaking gracious words or words that are full of grace also taste good and are good for you. Jesus is the ultimate example of what a flourishing human life looks like and it was said of Jesus that he was “full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). Colossians 4:6 says: “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”
Maybe I am just getting old, but it seems to me that people are often not very gracious in the ways they speak to each other. In many ways, social media makes it easier to speak very ungracious words to others behind the safety of anonymity or the filter of a phone or computer screen. Now, when I hear someone speaking graciously in public or on social media, I am like, “Wow, that was nice to hear for a change.”
God wants us, His children, to experience flourishing lives. One way toward flourishing is to monitor how we speak and intentionally choose to speak words that convey grace to others. We do not always have to agree with others and even Jesus spoke truth to his opponents, but even hard truth can be spoken with grace. That is part of being wise in our speaking and that is one-step towards a fruitful, productive and flourishing life.
~ Jeff Fletcher
Jeff is a pastor and chaplain who lives in the beautiful mountains of Virginia. He has spent his life in ministry and recently earned his doctorate from Vanderbilt University. He has a large, loving family and is very active in all the COG events and ministries.
Questions:
In what ways are you flourishing in your life? Where do you feel like you are not flourishing?
Have you noticed flourishing language in the Bible before? How does the Bible speak about flourishing? What is flourishing according to the Bible?
How does the wisdom of Proverbs help you to flourish in your life?
I believe that many readers of these devotions are currently students, while for some of you your school days are long in the past. Well, please adjust your memory as necessary and imagine the following situation: you’ve written a research paper with a required word count, and you run out of things to say (at least in the amount of time you gave yourself to write it). Your imagination is tapped. The letter of the law tells you the requirement, but you just can’t get your brain to produce any more useful ideas on the subject. What might you do? Perhaps you make one of your quotations longer to get the paper to reach the limit. If you were being a bit more cautious you might find spots to put in two or three shorter quotations so that your teacher won’t think that was what you did, instead of having one long quotation.
Well Hebrews is the New Testament book which depends the most on quotations, it has the most quotations and draws on them steadily to make its points about God’s intentions. Much of its argument about high priests uses Psalm 110 (which is itself the most quoted text in the New Testament, with Psalm 110:1 the most quoted individual verse in the Bible). And starting in Hebrews 8:8 we have the longest quotation in the New Testament, but I guarantee that it isn’t there for padding. For one thing the average length of a Greek letter at the time was only 90 words – more philosophical letters ran to 250 words. But even the short book of Philemon is 355 words. The book of Hebrews is nearly 5,000 words. Padding was not required. This information may be treated only as trivia, or we may think about why Hebrews depended so much on the Old Testament, as foundation for what it tells us. Consider the possibility that for some Christians this was one of the first “New Testament” works they had contact with – they may have known stories of Jesus by word of mouth, but their Bible may have been almost entirely the Old Testament, and this letter was attempting to guide how they viewed it by careful argument. On the off chance that you have been skipping over the quotations all this time because you assume they don’t add anything to the main story, do please read today’s text in full (and you probably should go back over the earlier ones too).
Hebrews 8:1 begins by restating some facts about Jesus: that he became our high priest and is at God’s right hand. Hebrews seven had discussed these facts, but alongside many other issues, now the author (who you may recall I choose to call Herb, for simplicity) refocuses our attention on these core points from Psalm 110:1, 4. Going from that foundation verse two makes the additional point that in heaven Jesus ministers in “the sanctuary,” that is “the true tabernacle” or sacred tent, pitched by God rather than man. Moses was given very specific instructions about what the tabernacle on earth should be like, and he was told that the tabernacle reflected the greater reality which exists in heaven. Several of the Psalms also refer to the heavens as a tent set up by God. The comparison might not seem as smooth if it were drawn between the heavens and the Temple which Solomon spent years building in Jerusalem, but the book of Hebrews doesn’t discuss the Temple worship, it emphasizes the worship that took place in the wilderness.
Having brought his audience back to first principles, Herb says in the next few verses some things that will be expanded on in chapters nine and ten. That doesn’t mean he is saying things that his audience wasn’t aware of. For example, in 8:3 he says that it is necessary for Jesus to have “something to offer” as a high priest. Herb says this only a few verses after having stated in 7:27 that Jesus “offered himself.” I think this fact was familiar to everyone involved in Christianity. But Herb is walking his readers through his argument, making the case he set out to make.
The quote beginning in Hebrews 8:8, from Jeremiah 31:31-34, will also be part of the discussion in the next two chapters of the book. It shows that during the time of the first covenant a need was stated – by God – for an improvement in the relationship of God and the people. All along the way God recognized needs and took steps to fill them. The same God brought about the first covenant and the second covenant. It was not some error in the first that resulted in the second, God planned for the developments that took place. While Jeremiah 31:31-34 says that the time is coming when no one would need to teach anyone the Laws (v. 10) it does not say that the content provided in the Law would be changing. Jeremiah simply said a new way was coming for God’s law to be given to God’s people, and that a way will come for sins to be forgiven. But we know that these changes involved more, and that the content of what people are meant to take in has changed between the first and second covenants. The law of love is a simpler message than the hundreds of laws contained in Leviticus, and through the Holy Spirit what God desires will be written “on our hearts” (v. 10). There is a different kind of relationship possible with God now than before.
Jesus said, in the Sermon on the Mount, that he did not come “to abolish the Law” but to “fulfill” the Law (Matthew 5:17). Perhaps some scholar of the Law could have anticipated that for the Law, which no one had ever successfully kept, to be fulfilled might be just what was required to bring change. Maybe Jesus’ words would have disturbed that scholar. Then again, a scholar of the Law who could anticipate such matters may also have foreseen that this was in God’s plan. Ultimately it was the ministry of Jesus at the true tabernacle, in heaven, which allowed the first covenant to be obsolete and disappear.
Lord, thank you for writing your will on my heart to let me understand you better. I don’t understand you as well now as I someday will be able to, but I am glad to know you more than I once did. It is good to love you, and to feel your love. Merciful Lord, help us to offer your mercy in your great strength. Amen.
Reflection Questions
We might sometimes think of the second covenant as very different from the first, but both covenants come from the God who took the people “by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt” (v. 9) – God loved and cared for the people of the first covenant, it is God who was rejected. What does the history of Israel show us about how God handles human rejection?
It seems likely that the first audience of the book of Hebrews knew the Old Testament better than most of us do, which may have helped them to understand the book of Hebrews better than we do. When you run into an Old Testament quotation you do not understand well, do you try to follow up on its context in the Old Testament?
How do you see the “law of love,” for God and neighbor, as differing from the law expressed in the first covenant? Is the issue that people are being freed from ceremonial issues? Are Christians being given more trust and leeway?
