Contemplative Bible Reading

2 Timothy 3:16-17

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

All Scripture is God-breathed.

Paul is writing about what we know as the Old Testament. Sometimes I assume that the New Testament is all important. I strive to live in a New Testament church. I believe the teachings about salvation found in the New Testament.

A brief look through these entries in this blog will show a good portion are from the Old Testament. While many of the Old Testament “laws” are no longer applicable today, the Old Testament does provide for

• teaching
• rebuking
• correcting
• training in righteousness

Perhaps one day, I can step through these and comment on each one. That is one of the things I love about this blog and God’s word. Each day brings a new perspective and knew edification.

Acts 15:19 (New International Version)

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

James is speaking here to the Council at Jerusalem.  Some of the new Jewish Christians wanted the Gentile Christians to learn all of the old Jewish law as part of following Christ. There is some merit that would come from learning about the Jewish law, but that was not necessary.

James makes a simple statement, “we shouldn’t make following Christ more difficult that it is.”

That is odd. Why would someone want to make following Christ difficult? What is the point?

Some Christians in James’ and day in our day today have had difficult lives. Their Christianity added to their difficulty. Sometimes these people cannot abide with seeing someone else have an easier life. “They haven’t paid the price I paid. They haven’t suffered enough. They are enjoying life too much.”

Sometimes is it odd how we act towards other people – especially other Christians. We  want them to struggle for some reason or another. Isn’t that silly?

Perhaps we should all just enjoy the wonderful riches of being with Christ.

Matthew 3:8 (New International Version)

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

Here is another one of those verses that asks us to do two different and sometimes contradictory things.

The first phrase is produce fruit – an action. The second phrase is the word repentance – which means to change your mind. Change your heart and mind and do something physical.

The Christian life is not all action. Neither is it all heart, mind, or attitude. God wants both from us. He wants our hearts to turn towards Him. He also wants us to live – to do – a life that shows where our heart is.

Hebrews 12:2 (New International Version)

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

This is a simple phrase. Perhaps that is why I like it so much.

If my eyes are fixed on Jesus,

I am less likely to wander into trouble,

I am less likely to complain about my life,

I am less likely to worry about stuff,

I am less likely to argue with people about whatever,

I am more likely to grab another person and say, “Hey, look!”

I am more likely to be amazed,

I am more likely to be filled with joy.

These situations all sound good for me. I think I’ll try to fix my eyes on Jesus much more often.

Jonah 2:8 (New International Version)

“Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

Wow, can you imagine forfeiting the grace of God. And all for the ability to cling to a worthless idol. Something fashioned by man.

Well, maybe this is more understandable in the short term when I expand the notion of an idol. One definition I heard and like is that worshipping an idol means worshipping the created instead of the creator. Lots of people worship money, power, their job, their family, the television. The list goes on and on. This is more understandable, but only in the very short term.

I like the way this verse shows me the choice – God’s grace or stuff. Pretty clear to me.

Romans 8:2 (New International Version)

2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Today is the 4th of July – America’s Independence Day. Much of America’s independence was based on a desire to worship God free from the dictates of another person.

As Americans, we enjoy many freedoms. Those freedoms were won through the determination and blood of men and women who fought for that freedom. The freedom Americans enjoy can be lost. Other nations can conquer America and take away the freedoms Americans enjoy.

As Christians, we enjoy many freedoms as well.  Per Romans 8:2, we are free from the law of sin and death. We need not be ruled by sin. We need not fear death.

These freedoms came through the blood of Jesus Christ. That blood made us clean enough so that we can stand before God. No one else can take that freedom away from me. That is a wonderful aspect of it. Jesus gave it to me, and no one else can take it away. Others may entice me to give it away, but they cannot force me to.

Exodus 14:13-14 (New International Version)

13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

These verses were written as the Egyptian army was chasing the Hebrews as they left Egypt. They were entering the parted Red Sea. God held to His word, and the Hebrews never saw those Egyptians again as the Egyptians were drown by God’s hand.

My paraphrase of verse 13 haunts me.

You will never see them again.

I read this as a promise from God. Those old days, those old ways, that sinful life – you will never see them again. They are behind you, so turn away and move forward. Don’t turn your back on those people as they too are God’s creation and He desires them to choose His ways. Do, however, turn your back on those old things and never see them again.

Proverbs 18:2 (New International Version)

A fool finds no pleasure in understanding
but delights in airing his own opinions.

Steven Covey sold millions of copies of his “Seven Habits…” book and turned that into a financial empire. One of his habits is something like:

Seek first to understand then be understood.

Aha, that comes right from this Proverb. The fool wants to be understood first, last, and at all times in between. The fool has no interest in understanding the other person.

I have benefited many times from following Covey’s  concept or shall I say from following the Proverb. Once again, someone uses the Bible and succeeds wildly. Once again, we prove that the Bible holds wisdom in this and eternal life.

James 5:16b (King James Version)

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

This is one of my favorite sentences from the Bible. I love the King James Version of this. Something about this rings in my ears. (The New International Version is shown below. I suppose it is easier to understand, but it doesn’t mean the same to me.)

We don’t use these words much. “Effectual,” “fervent,” “availeth.” What a shame. I feel such power as they roll off my tongue.

Look at each word:

• • effectual: adjective: producing or capable of producing an intended result or having a striking effect (all three definitions here are from [dictionary.com].

This is a prayer that is capable. This is a prayer that has a striking result. This is a prayer that I want to pray.

• • fervent: adjective: having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, enthusiasm, etc.; ardent.

This word comes from the heart of the person praying. Do I have an intense spirit? Am I ardent? (Another great word.)

I couldn’t find a definition for the word “availeth.” I had to settle for the definition of “avails.” This has much the same meaning.

• • avails: verb: To be of use or advantage to; help.

An effectual, fervent prayer that avails. This is from God. My goal is to pray this way daily.

James 5:16b (New International Version)

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Jonah 2:5 (New International Version)

The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.

This verse is from Jonah’s prayer as was trapped in the stomach of a great fish. The last line of this verse struck me. Seaweed was wrapped around my head.

In one sense this is a stupid thing to say. Hey Jonah, you are dying in the stomach of a great fish monster of some kind. Do you really care if seaweed is wrapped around your hear?

This is how we can be sometimes. Given that we live in the depths of sin on this sinful world with people mistreating us and us stumbling over our own imperfections…we manage to pray to God with something like, “Hey God,  the pressure in my tires is low. Please don’t let me have a flat.” How can we care about something so insignificant?We don’t see the big picture. We don’t see where we live. We don’t see how we live. We don’t see how our own nature brings us troubles. We just see a tire that doesn’t have enough air in it. We just see a tuna fish sandwich that has a little more mayo than we like. We just see that the person sitting in front of us in church has a little longer hair than we prefer.

Oh God, help me to see the situation you see. Help me to raise my sights above a little piece of seaweed wrapped about my head.