365 Reflections

I don't know about you but I'm always distracted lately. The information and technology age combined with hyper individual products like smartphones, watches and tablets with instant access to unlimited dalliances has me often wasting time with unimportant matters.  The truth is, it's harder than ever to focus our minds.  For that reason, the passage on the men who joined David really grabbed my attention. As 1 Chronicles 12 unpacks those who came to David from Saul, it also describes some of the gifts and abilities these men brought to the table.  First, we have listed the Benjaminites who brought their substance to David's authority: 1 Chronicles 12:29 (ESV) Of the Benjaminites, the kinsmen of Saul, 3,000, of whom the majority had to that point kept their allegiance to the house of Saul. Then there is the Ephraim tribe bringing their renown: 1 Chronicles 12:30 (ESV)  Of the Ephraimites 20,800, mighty men of valor, famous men in their fathers’ houses. Then there is...

Long before we needed to do it, before we understood the benefits, before anyone would ever focus on personal hygiene to the extreme that we do so today - God said - "Wash or die!" Exodus 30:17–21 (ESV) The Lord said to Moses, 18 “You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing . You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, 19 with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. 20 When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the Lord , they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. 21 They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die . It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.” Two years ago during a 4th of July cookout I didn't wash my hands while I prepared meat to barbecue. Two trips to two different doctor...

Psalm 131:1–3 (ESV) O Lord , my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.     2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.     3 O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. There's really only one way to approach God. Humbly and open. Here we have a picture, a weaned child with its mother. Hebrew children were weaned at ages three or four, and this experience marked the end of their infancy.  But a child of that age usually does not have any desire to stray too far from mom. In fact, they often become even more attached than they were at 2 years of age. The exposure of life's reality yields to anxiety of the great unknown beyond their comfort zone. YET the Psalmist has quieted his soul. Notice the phrase: "I have calmed and quieted my soul." This is his activ...

Hebrews 12:1 (ESV) Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us... We have a race to run.  It's been marked.  There are amazing illustrations from this verse referencing the ancient greek games.  Between 40-45,000 people watched a foot race measuring 600 feet in length in one long straight line.  They marked the race with stone sills at the beginning and end.  Each runner put his foot on a line drawn in the sand from which we get the phrase, "starting from scratch." The author of Hebrews sets a great example for preacher.  For he speaks the language of the people using concepts they can visualize.  I can see a New Testament writer using the NFL markers or terms like 4th and 11 to call us to press on in Christ.  Who knows, perhaps if the Bible was written in 2013, the word, "Lombardy" would ha...