Contemplative Bible Reading

Hebrews 10:24 (New Living Translation)

24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

It is Sunday. Christians gather as we have gathered for several thousand years. What shall we do today?

Here’s a thought: Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

Let’s make a list. Let’s discuss it. Let us think, use our God-given brains. Let us find ways to spur one another on towards acts of love and good works.

Acts of love: whoa, that is aspirational.

Acts of good works: whoa, another tough one.

We all have the same amount of time. We all have God-given brains. We all have God-given lives full of experiences. This is a difficult assignment. This is a simple assignment. Please God, help us in this task.

Psalm 130:7 (New Living Translation)

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;
for with the Lord there is unfailing love.
His redemption overflows.

Tired? Lonely? Distraught? Just having a bad day?

There is unfailing love with the Lord God.

Boy, that sure is simple. There must be something more to this? Well, of course. There is always something more to this. Still, there isn’t much else to this when I compare the effort to the result.

God is present. God is full of unfailing love. I can sit here and stew in my troubles. I can take a step and be in God’s unfailing love. Hmmm. Seems like I have the decision and I have the power to sit or step.

Thank you God for the power. Thank you God for the destination. Thank you God for the unfailing love.

2 Samuel 13:14-15 (New Living Translation)

¹⁴ But Amnon wouldn’t listen to her, and since he was stronger than she was, he raped her. ¹⁵ Then suddenly Amnon’s love turned to hate, and he hated her even more than he had loved her. “Get out of here!” he snarled at her.

This is a travesty that sets in motion a series of awful events in the kingdom of Israel during the time of King David. Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar.

Amnon was captivated by the beauty of Tamar. He “loved” (or was it lust?) her more than life. He would do anything to be with her. He gave 100% of his attention to thoughts of her 100% of the time.

After the rape, Amnon hater Tamar. He hated her with 100% of his hatred 100% of the time.

The situation of the royal family? Forgotten. God’s presence? Forgotten. Amnon devoted his life to this love-and-hate of Tamar. Life was all Amnon and Tamar.

Life is not all me-and-you. It doesn’t matter who “me” is and “you” is. That is not the totality of life. There are others around us. God is around us. I can never lose sight of God and all those created and cherished by God. Otherwise, me-and-you leads to the destruction of me and the destruction of you.

Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Proverbs 30:8 (New Living Translation)

8 First, help me never to tell a lie.
Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.

This is a saying of Agur son of Jakeh. He begs two favors of God and he desires to have them before he dies. What two things do I want from God before I die? Huh? Well, here is Agur’s request.

1. Keep me from telling a lie.
2. Give me enough to satisfy my needs.

Of course the two are connected. If people know that what I say is the truth, they will understand my words for what they are. “I need more of your time.” Truth. An expression of needs. The other person would understand and would be more likely to grant more time.

And these two connect to God. God, you have given me the ability to only speak the truth. Now I am requesting enough to satisfy my needs. If I ask for more money, that is needed. That is not wanted or wished or some other frivolous statement. More money is needed to satisfy my needs.

I am greatly blessed—far more than I deserve. I have much more of just about everything to satisfy my needs. Food, shelter, clothing? That is what I need. I have those in abundance and I have many other things far beyond those needs.

I am impressed with the wisdom and humility of this Agur son of Jakeh. He knew what was necessary for a blessed life on earth. His requests of God were simple, yet powerful. Please God, grant me the wisdom of Agur.

Psalm 38:4 (King James Version)

4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

Let’s go with an older translation here. Those who study these things attribute these words to King David. David was a righteous person who was held as the standard for all Kings who followed.

Yet, here is David bemoaning his sins and iniquities. They have flooded over his head like being stuck at the beach and the incoming tide covering him. His sins are a burden, and that burden is too heavy for him.

One of the wisest and most righteous persons in the Bible could not cope with his sins. The guilt was too great for him.

So what did David often do? Prayed. David talked to God. David pleaded with God on several occasions. God had the answers. God had the comfort. God had the forgiveness.

How this ties to me is obvious. God has the answers. And God’s grace is sufficient for me. I cannot overemphasize the miracle of God’s grace. The death of Jesus on the cross cleansed me. My sins do not flood over my head and become an unbearable burden. That is simple. That is so complicated that the mind of man—especially my puny mind—cannot comprehend it.

Thank you God. Please help me in my unbelief.

Psalm 31:4 (King James Version)

4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.

In this Psalm, King David declares his trust in God. He asks God for help in many common situations. This verse (the poetic rendition from the King James Version) asks God to pull David out of a net that others have secretly laid in David’s path.

Such traps are common in life. Folks love to see other folks stumble, twist, fall, and vainly try to wriggle out of predicaments. Why? We are an odd lot prone to devious acts of glee.

Please God, pull me out of the predicaments that others put in my way. Sometimes others create these on purpose. Sometimes, well, these things just happen in life on earth. Still, I am stuck and every step only pulls my shoes from my feet to be lost in the mire.

On you, oh God, I depend. There is no better one to depend. Thank you, God.

Job 19:6 New Living Translation

6 But it is God who has wronged me, capturing me in his net.

There is an old saying about “the patience of Job.” Job could withstand anything and everything and remain patience while waiting for God and for some relief to his Satan-inflicted woes. Yet here is Job, blaming God for his problems. God wronged me. God captured me in His net.

Yes, the most patient of us all lost his patience. That is the human condition. We are an odd lot. Yet, God sent the Son to save us—all of us for all the sins we all committed. It is amazing grace and, as the poet wrote, how sweet is its sound.

Job 28:28 (New Living Translation)

28 And this is what he (God) says to all humanity:
‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom;
to forsake evil is real understanding.’

Let’s have a grasp of the situation. Let’s have real understanding of our lives. How do we achieve that?

Forsake evil.

Hmmm. There must be something more to this. I mean, all I have to do to understand what is whirling all about me is to forsake evil. Definition: forsake, verb, abandon (someone or something). So, abandon evil and I will really understand. Oh, one more thing: God says this to all humanity, not just a few really smart or important folks. All humanity.

Hmmm. There must be something more to this. Nope. God said it. I cannot find a latter place in the Bible where God revokes this statement. This must be it. Forsake evil.

I think that as I become older I am a bit better at this forsaking than I used to be. There is something to be said of the perspective of time. Thank you God.

2 Chronicles 12:7-8 (New Living Translation)

7 When the Lord saw their change of heart, he gave this message to Shemaiah: “Since the people have humbled themselves, I will not completely destroy them and will soon give them some relief. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger on Jerusalem. 8 But they will become his subjects, so they will know the difference between serving me and serving earthly rulers.”

This is part of the history of Rehoboam, King of Judah. He abandoned the worship of God. As a result, Shishak, a King of Egypt, invaded and amassed an army at the gates of Jerusalem. Rehoboam and the other leaders changed their hearts and looked to God.

God speaks through the prophet Shemaiah. Because the leaders humbled themselves, God would not use Shishak and his army to kill them all. Nevertheless, they would become subjects of Shishak and serve him.

The people would know the difference between serving an all-knowing, all-loving God and an all-too-human earthly ruler who had just conquered them. Ooops. I don’t want any of that knowledge. The classes would be too painful. I’ll settle with serving God. What was wrong with those people way back when?

Well, they were just like I am today. I guess this is an election year in America. We vote for our representatives in our republic. Serve these earthly rulers? Nope. Let’s not be silly. Abide by the laws? Yes. Let’s live peaceably in this land for our temporary time here. Ultimate ruler? God. Please God, don’t abandon me to these guys and gals who run for political office. I don’t want that.

Matthew 17:4 (New Living Translation)

4 Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

Here is a simple statement for the ages. Peter and a couple of fellow followers of Jesus are standing in the presence of Jesus. And Peter says it, “it’s wonderful for us to be here.”

Well, I can say this everyday. I can say this every minute of every hour of every day. I believe that God is everywhere all the time. Hence, I am in the presence of God every minute of every hour of every day.

Lord, it’s wonderful for me to be here!

Let’s all remember this and say this. Please God, help me in my unbelief.