Contemplative Bible Reading

Ecclesiastes 9:10 (New International Version)

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

This is a great encouragement to do the best I can now. When I die, there will be no more work for me to do.

I have often told myself, “once I do such-and-such and that is behind me, then I will be able to do more for others.” I was wrong.

Today is the day for me to do what I can with all my might.

…

Ezekial 20:32 (New International Version)

” ‘You say, “We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.” But what you have in mind will never happen.

Who would want to serve wood and stone? Let’s update “wood” to “money” (money is made from paper which is made from wood) and “stone” to “diamonds.” Now let’s try this again as,

We want to be like the people of the world who serve money and diamonds (material wealth).

Oh, now this is relevant to us today. Sometimes we tend to worship money and let everything else slide while we accumulate it.

God, help me to always understand what it is I am worshipping. Let me always worship you.

Ephesians 4:17 (New International Version)

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

I was struck by this phrase “futility of thinking.” The passage is not speaking of all Gentiles in general, but of a group of them who refused to listen to the Gospel message.

Futile thinking is such that “produces no useful result, is pointless.” There are times when it is fine to think about things that produce no result as not everything we do in life must produce a result.

In this context, however, the pointless thinking is thinking about God, spiritual matters, and eternity. Such are important things to consider and a result is also important.

The passage continues in verse 18:

They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

Their pointless thinking leads to ignorance or no knowledge. This is not ignorance from lack of opportunity. It is ignorance borne of a stubborn attitude. They simply refuse to listen. Again, their thinking, what little there is, is pointless.

God, thank you for giving us minds to think. Help us always to choose to have soft hearts, to listen, to think towards a useful result, especially on matters of importance involving our relationships with you and with our fellow man.

Psalm 100 (New International Version)

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his ^[a] ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

We do not receive from God what we deserve. Instead, we receive blessings. Their number cannot be counted; their magnitude cannot be measured.

As a child things and experiences come to us. They seem natural, and we absorb them without a thought. Only later in life do we realize that we are the blessing God has given to our parents, their parents, and their friends. We are life that fills them with joy.

During some time we gradually change from child to adult. We change from the blessing to the receiver of blessing. This change never ends as throughout our lives we are a blessing to others. Still, we receive and receive and receive blessings from God.

God asks little of us in return. Merely to

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

God, help me to always acknowledge your blessings and give thanks. Help me to continue to serve as a blessing to others as well.

Ezekial 18:25 (New International Version)

“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

The prophet Ezekial is trying to teach God’s people a lesson from God. The people complain because they do not like they way God judges things. Prior verses explain that if a wicked person turns to God, he is right. “That’s not fair! That’s not right!” complain the people. “The way of the Lord is not just!”

God, through Ezekial, replies, “Your ways are not just, mine are.”

This argument could go around in circles for thousands of years. This argument is a fundamental principle of Christianity – who is the judge?

We all have opinions. In the realm of eternity, God’s opinion is the one that counts. Many want to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. Many aren’t so anxious to accept Him as their Lord. That second part means accepting Jesus and God as the judge, the entity whose opinion counts.

God, thank you for your son, my savior. Grant me the humility to accept Him as my Lord as well.

Amos 8:11 (New International Version)

“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.

A famine of hearing the words of the Lord. This passage is speaking specifically of a time in the life of the God’s chosen people. Their disobedience led to that punishment.

But what about other times of such a famine. How about during the 70 years of the Soviet Union? How about Communist China today? Tibet? Mongolia? Other extremely isolated places on earth? Is there much hearing the words of the Lord or is it a famine?

Or how about in my life? I may be reading the words of the Lord, I may be in a room where they are spoken? Am I hearing them? Am I paying attention?

I have a busy life, a blessed life. Sometimes I am too busy to stop and hear the words of the Lord enough to live them.

God, help me to hear your words. Help me to live them.

Hebrews 4:2 (New International Version)

For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

The gospel without faith is of no value to the person hearing it. I can hear about Jesus Christ all day. I can hear about the miracles performed in His name. I can hear and can hear and can hear.

At some point I must believe. I must believe in something that I did not see, and that is the definition of faith.

There are those described in this verse who hear but do not combine the hearing with faith. The gospel is of no value to these people. The gospel is not lacking, it is the absence of the ability to believe.

I believe the gospel. With me, however, my lack of faith is with other people. There are times when I don’t believe that God can work through some people I know. I have been wrong many times.

God, thank you for my faith in the gospel. Help me with my lack of faith in my fellow servants.

Proverbs 26:18-19 (New International Version)

18 Like a madman shooting
firebrands or deadly arrows

19 is a man who deceives his neighbor
and says, “I was only joking!”

Twenty five years ago I would joke much more than I do now. Much of my joking turned sour and hurt others. I was angry at this. Didn’t these other people have a sense of humor? Couldn’t they tell that I was only joking? That is what a sense of humor is, the ability to sense when someone is only joking.

I was wrong.

I love humor, and joking has its place, but that is a small place. This is especially true in the area of practical jokes. They deceive people into believing one thing when something else is true. It is supposed to be obvious and funny to everyone. One problem is that very few things are obvious and funny to everyone.

Take great care when only joking. Firebrands often set your own home afire.

Jeremiah 36:23-24 (New International Version)

23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. 24 The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes.

This is an account of King Jehoiakim burning scriptures in a firepot. Jeremiah the prophet received words directly from God and had them written on a scroll. The words were not pleasant for King Jehoiakim, but they were just.

Jehoiakim didn’t like the words, so to show his contempt for the prophet and God’s words, he cut one line at a time from the scroll and burned it. While doing this, Jehoiakim and his attendants showed no fear, no respect for God.

I have not seen anyone literally do something like this during my life. I have never seen someone take a Bible, cut out a verse they didn’t like, and burn it with a match.

I have seen people do this figuratively. They sort of burned a verse or two like “love one another” but put it back later. It is like we have a copy of God’s word, but we also have some Xerox copies. We burn one copy one day, but replace it the next from a copy in the closet when we are in a better mood.

Jehoiakim ignored God; he disdained God, and he showed no remorse. He did these things literally in front of witnesses. Sometimes we do these things, but we hide them from others. God sees through our hiding.

God, I know you see in my heart all the time. Help me to keep your word there. Help me to live your word daily.

Matthew 5:1-2 (New International Version)

1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them saying:

Here is the situation: Jesus is about to speak to a large crowd of people. He is on the side of a mountain. He stands and speaks. No, that isn’t how it happened. Instead, he sat down.

Now how can you deliver probably the biggest speech of your life sitting? Surely you stand. That allows everyone to hear and see you better. Standing establishes your authority over the audience.

No, that isn’t how it happened. Instead, he sat down.

But Jesus is all powerful. He could speak in a normal tone of voice and cause thousands of people spread over great distances to hear him no matter what the circumstances. That they heard Jesus was a miracle, right?

Maybe, but that isn’t what the scriptures tell  us. Instead, he sat down and spoke to them.

Sometimes we should sit down, calm down, and have a quiet talk.