Contemplative Bible Reading

Job 1:1 (New Living Translation)

There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.

Such begins the Old Testament book that recounts the (hi)story of Job. A simple statement that describes the man. Note the last few words, “(he) stayed away from evil.”

Tempted by fill-in-the-blank? Stay away from it. Simple? Yes. Easy? Not always. Still, as the folks at Nike used to say, JUST DO IT. See it coming? Turn the other way.

1 Chronicles 12:32 (New Living Translation)

From the tribe of Issachar, there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives. All these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.

This verse comes from a long listing of persons who decided to follow David as their earthly King. From Issachar, we have leaders who, and this is key, “understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.”

What a wonderful condition, to be led by persons who understood the present and how it should shape the future. I believe this is an excellent definition of wisdom. The ability to understand and proceed as God would have us. Please God, grant me such.

Psalm 97:1 (New Living Translation)

The Lord is king!
Let the earth rejoice!
Let the farthest coastlands be glad.

I am logical, scientific, rational, and all those boring things. A coastland being glad? Are you kidding? That is just a place where land meets water. How can it be glad? Yet, here it is, right in front of me.

There is much in the Old(er) Testament about how the creation—all of the creation—enjoying the blessings of God. I seem to understand that on some days, but there are plenty of other days where I shrug it off as some sort of poetic stuff that really doesn’t have to make any sense.

Still, here it is, right in front of us. All of creation rejoices as the Creator is in charge. The Creator knows what to do and how to keep it all spinning and in balance. Who are we to think that we can destroy or recreate any of it?

1 Samuel 12:25a (New Living Translation)

As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you.

There are many ways to sin against God. How about this one: Not praying for someone.

“I’ll fix you, I won’t pray for you anymore!”

How silly. How arrogant. How sinful. How did the sin part get in there with the other two? Oh, the Bible tells me so per the above.

Do I “think” about other persons? Am I praying for them in my thoughts? Are my thoughts consumed in some other way? What am I doing? Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Psalm 103:15-17 (New Living Translation)

15 Our days on earth are like grass;
like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone—
as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever
with those who fear him.

Simple verses that compare us and God. Grass. It grows when there is water. When the water is gone, the grass turns brown, dies, and blows away. So much for the grass.

The love of the Creator, well that is different. It remains and remains and remains and…

I love other translations: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.

And there are moments on some days when I want to be God. I know what I’m doing and what I’m saying and … well, doesn’t work well. Still, I come back to those days too often. Please God, in light of all there is, please help me in my unbelief.

1 Samuel 10:25 (New Living Translation)

Then Samuel told the people what the rights and duties of a king were. He wrote them down on a scroll and placed it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent the people home again.

At long last, God’s people had an earthly king. This didn’t work out that well, but it was a welcome event.

Samuel the prophet addressed the people immediately. “These are the responsibilities and limits of King.” Notice, the King did not have the authority to say, “My word is law.” There were limits. Some kings…well, they didn’t hold to their limits. They knew better, and things didn’t work out well.

Still, God knew about power corrupting and absolute power corrupting absolutely. We learn that there is nothing new among us in the past few thousand years. Hmm, how about that? God invented us and has a pretty good—or is it faultless—concept of what we are and do.

2 John verse 4 (New Living Translation)

How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded.

John addresses his letter to “the chosen lady and her children.” I don’t know who “the chosen lady” is. Did this lady have a big bunch of children—biologically? Maybe, but I believe this is addressing the descendants in the truth, in Jesus.

I have biological parents and grandparents who lived in the truth. They taught me much and I owe much “religious capital” to them (I think I just invented a term that may be silly). I have also experienced the benefit of many ancestors in the truth. They also taught and showed me much.

I find this to be some of the great blessings in God: the ability to inherit the truth from some and pass it along to others. In some sense, that is arrogant. My earthly father didn’t give me the grace of God; God gave it to me. In another sense, that is humble. The grace of God is right there in front of me; it always has been. Sometimes, however, I failed to see it.

God’s grace included a few persons who pointed me to God’s grace. Thank you, God.

2 John verses 1-2 (New Living Translation)

I am writing to the chosen lady and to her children, whom I love in the truth—as does everyone else who knows the truth— 2 because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.

I struggle with the concept at the heart of these verses. I believe “the truth” here is Jesus. Followers of Jesus love one another in Jesus. We do so because Jesus lives in us and will be with us forever.

What is truth? Will someone please put that on paper for me so I can always point to it? Truth is the Word. The Word is a person. Let’s see…truth = word = Jesus. Again, that doesn’t make sense to me. How can a person be … ?

Maybe one day it will come together for me. At this time, I believe I am best served to let God be God and understand these things while I am satisfied to not be God and not understand everything about God. Still, I want… Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Numbers 1:50-51 (New Living Translation)

50 Put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Covenant, along with all its furnishings and equipment. They must carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings as you travel, and they must take care of it and camp around it. 51 Whenever it is time for the Tabernacle to move, the Levites will take it down. And when it is time to stop, they will set it up again. But any unauthorized person who goes too near the Tabernacle must be put to death.

In the preceding verses, God has the people list all the men 20 years and older who can go to war. God does not put the tribe of Levi in that list of soldiers in the Lord’s army. Instead, the Levites are to care for the Tabernacle and all that goes with it. They must “take care of it.”

Note that last part of verse 50: if unauthorized persons approach the Tabernacle, the Levites will execute them.

Whoa! Execute them? Really? Really. This is serious. There is a message here.

Treat God in a manner which you don’t treat anything else.

This is not a game. This is not folly. This emphasizes the life-and-death nature of man’s relationship to God.

This also emphasizes the grace of Jesus Christ given to me. I can approach buildings and structures without fear of death from God. The physical is important—let us always appreciate the physical needs of our fellow man. The spiritual, however, is paramount. Let me never take it lightly.

Deuteronomy 12:6-7 (New Living Translation)

6 There you will bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, your offerings to fulfill a vow, your voluntary offerings, and your offerings of the firstborn animals of your herds and flocks. 7 There you and your families will feast in the presence of the Lord your God, and you will rejoice in all you have accomplished because the Lord your God has blessed you.

The theme of verse 6: offering, i.e., give.

The theme of verse 7: rejoice.

Hmmm, there must be some mistake here by putting these two next to one another. Right? Wrong. Let us rejoice in what we offer to the Lord and to our fellow man. Somehow, we seem to do this wrong—repeatedly. God, help me in my unbelief.