Contemplative Bible Reading

Luke 8:35 (New Living Translation)

People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid.

Fear filled the crowd of people. What brought such? They saw a man sitting a Jesus’ feet fully clothed and perfectly sane. That man was the village idiot, the town nut, everyone knew he was dangerously crazy.

Yet here he was in a blessed repose—sitting completely sane and peaceful at the feet of Jesus. Something unnatural had happened. Something so strange that it was frightening.

The man was sitting peacefully at the feet of Jesus. I want that. I want sanity, peace, tranquility, no stress, and everything we can write in today’s hectic world. I can have it. “All I have to do” is sit at the feet of Jesus.

Consider that. How hard is it to sit on the ground? Pretty much anyone can do it. Well, everyone can do it. Just sit. We must, however, sit in the right place. Not anyplace will do. We struggle with this. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Side Note: I searched the Internet for images of this (hi)story. All the images were dramatic portrayals of the wild and crazy man. I couldn’t find any of the many peacefully sitting at Jesus’ feet. I guess that seems pretty boring. Odd how we want to see the crazy, but don’t want to see the blessed repose.

Zephaniah 3:13 (New Living Translation)

The remnant of Israel will do no wrong;
they will never tell lies or deceive one another.
They will eat and sleep in safety,
and no one will make them afraid.

Once again, (I wrote of this verse recently) the prophet is telling the people what God has said. There will be a day when the people will change. They will look to God and do no wrong.

There are blessings that come from looking to God. The last phrase describes one of these blessings—no one will make me afraid.

Of course not. When I am with God, what can a person do to me. Sure they can steal my stuff and hurt me physically and all sorts of terrible things. Still, what can they do to me?

God frees me from the fear of other persons—if I let Him. I can think of all sorts of frightening things, but that is a show of my weakness, not of a failure of God’s promise.

Please God, help me in my unbelief. Help me to stop fearing others.

John 19:25-27 (New Living Translation)

25 Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” 27 And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.

Jesus, the Son of God, is on the cross. He is about to perform the greatest miracle of all time. This is a big spiritual concept—one that we struggle to grasp.

In the middle of this, Jesus sees His mother. Jesus is the oldest son. He is responsible—in the culture of the time—for providing for his mother in her old age. He knows He will die and will not fulfill his human and cultural duties.

Jesus sees another man. “Please,” says Jesus, “you take my mother as your mother. You provide for her in her old age. I can’t.”

Jesus takes on the full human and cultural responsibilities of a man, of a human.

Christianity requires faith in Jesus, i.e., the ability to believe in a grand concept for which we have no earthly, physical proof. And Christianity requires us to live in our human and cultural world. We pay taxes; we drive in our lane, and we don’t litter. And we show others that Jesus has made us different.

Sometimes I fail to fulfill the requirements of Christianity. I’m tired. I would rather take a nap than do lots of other things. Jesus provides a way. Thank you Jesus for your saving grace.

Zephaniah 3:13 (New Living Translation)

The remnant of Israel will do no wrong;
they will never tell lies or deceive one another.
They will eat and sleep in safety,
and no one will make them afraid.

The prophet is speaking to the people from God. There is a day coming. That day will be safe, as opposed to their current suffering. The characteristic of that day?

The people will neither lie nor deceive one another.

Funny how one thing or another can change everything. Let’s stop lying. Let’s stop trying to trick one another. How about that? Would that turn around the economy or political polarity? Would that make my bills easier to pay?

Perhaps that would allow me to sleep better and not worry about other people doing me harm. Hmmm. That would be pretty good. I would feel better with the extra rest and have the energy and time to treat other persons better than I do today.

Yes, that would sure be a good thing. Let’s try it.

Jonah 2:10 (New Living Translation)

Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

God speaks to a great fish. “Spit Jonah out onto the beach,” says God.

The following verses indicated that the great fish listens and obeys God. Let’s consider that last phrase for a moment. A “stupid fish” listens and obeys God. Or was it a “stupid” or mindless fish? Or was it a smart fish with a free will to do as it wanted?

Enough speculation about the nature of the mind of a fish. We know what this one fish did.

Am I “smarter” than a fish? Take care with this question and its answer. Do I listen and obey? Do I think about it a while? How does my judgement compare to that of this one fish?

Given this story and these questions, I look pretty foolish at times, huh? Perhaps I should use some of my brain power and superior intelligence to consider my life and how I respond to God.

Amos 8:11-12 (New Living Translation)

11 “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread or water
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from border to border[c]
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.

We don’t have famines in America. We probably have never experienced a famine. Droughts? Other bad weather? Yes. Famine? No.

In the Old Testament times, a famine was one of the worst things that could happen. The prophet uses the word “famine” to describe a horrible time that is coming. There will be a famine of hearing the words of God. People will want to hear from God, but they will not be able to do so.

I have in front of me the Internet where there are dozens of English translations of the Bible. The words of God flood at me. No problem. I have no concept of a famine of the words of God. Blessings are drowning me. How can I ignore them? Why would I ignore them?

Still, I have days when I do ignore them. What is wrong with me? Please God, help me in my unbelief.

1 Samuel 18:12 (New Living Translation)

Saul was then afraid of David, for the Lord was with David and had turned away from Saul.

Saul feared David. How and why would Saul fear such a loyal servant as David.

(1) God was with David. Saul’s life had moved Saul away from God. Yikes. Bad situation.

(2) Then there is the human and practical side of this: David was a good warrior. He was quite good in the craft of killing people. I would not want David to be upset with me.

This was Saul’s situation. I don’t think Saul was aware of reason (1) as stated in the verse. I do think Saul was quite familiar with reasons (2).

How aware am I of reason (1)? Has God found favor with me? Has God lost favor with me? I am forgiven. The blood of the Christ covers my sins. Thanks be to God, and please God, help me with my unbelief.

Matthew 1:18 (New Living Translation)

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here we are in late January. A month ago, you probably heard this (hi)story a time or two.

There are a few sentences in the Bible that stand alone in that if we lost much of the rest of the Bible, we would be fine with just the sentence or two. This is one of them.

There was the fellow from a small town. God anointed that fellow to take away the sins of everyone in all time so that we may all be able to enter God’s presence. God put the seed of that fellow into the body of a virgin so that she would bring him into the world for us.

I suppose we could consider the preceding paragraph for a lifetime or a hundred lifetimes. It makes no sense. I makes all sense. It is the basis for everything before and since.

Praise God from whom all blessing flow—Thomas Ken.

1 Samuel 18:5 (New Living Translation)

Whatever Saul asked David to do, David did it successfully. So Saul made him a commander over the men of war, an appointment that was welcomed by the people and Saul’s officers alike.

David was a good guy. David was good at what he did. Everyone liked David.

God had appointed David, through Samuel the prophet, to be King of the people one day.

Let’s consider these two things: (1) God appointed David, and (2) everyone liked David.

God does not always work in the realm of popularity contests. I would suggest that God rarely works in the real of popularity contests. In this case, however, God’s choice is popular. I doubt God chose David because he was popular. The other way around is more likely, i.e., the people could see why God chose David.

There is a cliche that goes something like this: God doesn’t choose the equipped, but God does equip the chosen. It means something like God chooses the person with the right heart and imparts the worldly skills in the right place at the right time. I think this is what God did here with David. A little sheep herder who was not the first in line in his own little sheep herding family was chosen by God. God then equipped David so that one day the people and the commanders of the army welcomed him.

Prepare for God’s service. Gain skills. Grow a heart. Love and serve others. Perhaps God will appoint me King or Commander or something and have others welcome me. Perhaps not. Still, love and serve others as Christ did.

1 Samuel 25:24 (New Living Translation)

She fell at his feet and said, “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say.

In the verse, she is Abigail—a woman married to a wicked and ill-tempered man named Nabal. He is David—one day to be king, but now a war hero who has fallen out of favor with the current King Saul and is on the run.

Her request, that will save the lives of dozens of innocent persons is, “Please listen.”

How simple can a request be? How important can a request be? This is the plea of persons everyday to other persons: please listen to me. Please acknowledge that I am here.

Many years ago, I was at a church social (yes, such events still exist). A little boy was there. He wasn’t an orphan, but he came on the church bus meaning that his parents were not there and were rarely “there.” He was tossing a ball into the air. He looked at me and pleaded, “Watch me.”

His request was the same as Abigail to David. His request was the same as every person who bends their heart towards God and pours out their life: please listen.

I thank God that there is prayer. I thank God that in prayer, God listens.