Contemplative Bible Reading

Genesis 1:1-3 (New Living Translation)

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

The second sentence of the Bible paints an ugly picture: formless, empty, dark, deep waters.

Then God said, and everything changed. Light came from the words of God. Light brought life. Light brought hope. Light changed everything for the better. Light was God.

These four sentences are all we need of the Bible. Without God, it is bad. With God, it is good. Let’s be with God. Let’s be with the good light.

Thank you God for the light.

Genesis 20:11 (New Living Translation)

Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.’

This is part of the (hi)story of Abraham and his wife Sarah. For a while, they moved into the territory of King Abimelech of Gerar. Abraham, fearing death, told everyone that his wife was his sister.

King Abimelech of Gerar almost took this visitor’s sister as a wife. When the King learned that the “sister” was already married, he jumped back in horror. What if he had done that? What if he had done wrong?

King Abimelech of Gerar confronted Abraham, whose reply is quoted above. Abraham assumed (1) no sense of right or wrong and (2) the locals would murder him.

Bad assumptions sandwiching a good assumption (they will want my wife). Such is life then and now and everyday in between. Bad assumptions about other people who are part of “them” and not part of “us.” Them don’t know right and wrong like us do. Them don’t respect life like us do. Them are subhuman in their desires and actions, not like us who always think the best of others and … uh, er, wait, we have to … oh gosh. Us act like our assumptions about them.

Us have the benefit of God’s grace. Them, well, they also have the benefit of God’s grace. I don’t care if them don’t always act and dress and talk like us. Them are covered just like us. Us should stop the bad assumptions about them.

2 Kings 17:26 (New Living Translation)

So a message was sent to the king of Assyria: “The people you have sent to live in the towns of Samaria do not know the religious customs of the God of the land. He has sent lions among them to destroy them because they have not worshiped him correctly.”

The people in the Kingdom of Israel had sinned against God for generations. God had the King of Assyria pull them from the land God gave them and scatter them to the winds. The King of Assyria moved folks from other lands into the land formerly occupied by Israel. It seems that the King of Assyria conquered lots of folks and relocated them all, but that is an aside.

These people who were moved into Israel were overrun by the proverbial lions, tigers, and bears (oh my).

Their reaction? It was a religious one. They didn’t know how to serve Jehovah the God of the Israelis. These were religious folks. They believed in more than you could see and hear. They believed in the supernatural.

They were religious but ignorant.

Hmmm, sounds to me like they would fit in just fine in today’s (post?) modern world. Many folks today believe that there is more than they can see and hear. There has to be more. This can’t be all there is, huh?

Our neighbors, friends, and colleagues believe in more than they can see and hear. They are wondering and some are searching. Let’s tell them a few things (when they are ready to hear). Many want to hear something. Many are wanting that hope that comes through a risen Savior.

Genesis 9:5-7 (New Living Translation)

5 “And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. 6 If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. 7 Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.”

As far as I know, this is the first pronouncement from God against murder. It extends beyond mankind into the animal kingdom. If an animal kills a person, the animal must die. Whoa! How many folks would accept that one today? Nevertheless, there it is.

If a person murders another, that person must be put to death, and the death will come from human hands. That is one of the reasons we don’t want a person to murder another: if you murder someone else I must kill you. I don’t want to kill you, but here it is. Please behave so I don’t have to kill you.

And why? What is the reason? Because of all life created by God, mankind was created in God’s image. God treasures the life that is in His image. God won’t tolerate the destruction of what is in His image.

Again, that may not be popular in some circles today, but there it is. We are in God’s image, and God takes that seriously.

Exodus 2:18 (New Living Translation)

“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered. “And then he drew water for us and watered our flocks.”

This is Moses’ future wife talking. Moses had rescued her from some thugs and then watered her flocks for her.

Moses must have taken to her deeply and quickly.

Moses was an Egyptian, well, we know he was a Hebrew, but he was raised as an Egyptian and was Egyptian through and through in culture. We read later in Exodus that the Egyptians detested the idea of herding sheep. Hmmm. Moses the Egyptian doing what Egyptians detested. Why? How? What????? What would all the Egyptian friends of Moses say about that?

None of this makes any sense, but isn’t that how we would judge most of the Bible? It just doesn’t make sense on page after page after page. What is happening?

God is happening page after page after page. Something and some one supernatural, something we cannot explain by the laws of nature and the laws of human conduct. It happens everywhere in the Bible. People do what they wouldn’t do. Moses the Egyptian doing the detestable to impress a woman or simply to do what is right—protect the helpless.

I believe God does this everyday right in front of our eyes. All we have to do is notice. Notice God at work. And from time to time, point and tell our neighbor, “Hey, did you just see God do that!”

Romans 7:25 (New Living Translation)

Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

Paul has been writing about the miserable state that he and us have. Paul discovered a “this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.” Yikes.

What are we to do about this principle of life? We try. And some days I really try. And some days I really fail. I, like Paul, am a slave to sin.

Thanks and praise be to God. God provided the answer in Jesus Christ. Principle of life removed. Principle of grace installed. Simple. I cannot comprehend it, but here it is.

1 Samuel 26:5 (New Living Translation)

David slipped over to Saul’s camp one night to look around. Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping inside a ring formed by the slumbering warriors.

This is part of the (hi)story of David staying one step ahead of King Saul in Saul’s pursuit to kill David. That was a sad state of affairs. In this (hi)story, we have this scene where David slips into Saul’s camp to find the King and the commander of the army surrounded by slumbering warriors.

Warriors? Slumbering? Huh?

There are all sorts of ideas about this scene. Perhaps God put the warriors into a slumber so that David could approach Saul and show how David respected God’s King. The slumber was God’s way of illustrating how David was a man after God’s heart. Perhaps.

Still, warriors? Slumbering? What was wrong with these guys? They were to protect the King given to them by God. They failed miserably. Why, if I had been there, I would have…surely done better than this, huh?

Probably not. I see this as one more illustration of how fatigue wins. It is simply, “I know what to do, but, I’ve had a tough couple of days and I need to just take a nap and rest and then…”

Tired? We all become tired. Notice fatigue. Go to another Christian and ask for help. Some of these tired warriors could have taken turns slumbering and doing what they should be doing. Christians can turn to other Christians and take turns resting and recreating. God gave us a church—a gathering of Christians so that we can take turns. Let’s not neglect that gift of God.

Acts 17:30 (New Living Translation)

“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him…”

In the sentences preceding this, the readers are informed of God’s history with mankind. In this sentence, we read the prior ignorance was overlooked. No longer.

Simple instructions: (1) turn away from past sins and (2) turn to God.

Somehow we take these simple instructions and add a few hundred, “Yes, but” and “Okay, but.” There is no end to our, “but God, you gotta’ understand…”

Sorry. And I really mean, “sorry.” I am sorry about my sad state of affairs and my often-miserable actions. I am sorry that I can’t explain this to others in a way that they turn to God. I am sorry that my life isn’t the example it should be. I am sorry.

And I am grateful for the grace of God. The grace that means the Creator of all accepts tiny, sorry me. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Luke 1:80 (New Living Translation)

John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.

John (the Baptist) was born the son of a Priest of the tribe of Levi. His father was a Priest. John was to be a Priest.

We find John living “in the wilderness.” Harvard? Yale? Oxford? (Name your favorite favored and fancy place.) No. The wilderness.

How disappointed were his parents? How disappointed were his friends? What did everyone think of him?

Then the second part of the sentence, “…until he began his public ministry to Israel.” Oh, so this living in the wilderness led to a public ministry of service and preaching. John learned something or other while in the wilderness that helped prepare him for ministry.

We can take this “time in the wilderness” too far, and many in ministry have taken it too far and often say things like, “Well, when I worked at such-and-such church that was my time in the wilderness” as if the people in THAT place were wild and wooly and undeserving of the person’s brilliance.

Notice the positive: John grew while in the wilderness. He took advantage of the opportunity presented by the wilderness. Tough times taught lessons, and John listened.

Me? Am I in the wilderness or in retirement? Is retirement my wilderness? What does God send me today? Am I learning and growing from God’s lessons and blessings today? There are alternatives. God, help me in my unbelief and my choices.

1 Chronicles 18:14 (New Living Translation)

So David reigned over all Israel and did what was just and right for all his people.

Well that’s a pretty good summary of King David. He did what was just and right for all. I wonder what his approval ratings were? Was he popular? Was the economy growing?

We aren’t told about any of those things that seem to worry us these days. We’re just told “just and right.”

Well, we understand that the ancient world was much simpler and they didn’t have to worry about all the things we have to worry about and all the international entanglements that entangle us in his modern or post-modern world and …

Nope. Wrong. Life was really tough in the days of David. They had plagues (real ones, not like than pandemic of 2020) and famines (never had one of these in America in 240+ years). They were attacked by foreign armies every weekend or so.

Still, David was just and right and was recorded in history as a man after God’s own heart. Pretty good stuff to copy. Pretty good way to live.