Author: Dave Dishman (Page 237 of 458)

It’s easy to think I should get what I want, that I’m entitled to more, that I deserve it. Either because of my hard work or my basic goodness I should receive my due—whatever that may be. But the Lord reminds me of his perspective:

It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.

In other words, the earth is the Lord’s and all it contains, and he’s in charge of doling stuff out, not me (as unfortunate as that feels at times). The frustrating aspect of this is the phrase I give it to whomever it seems right to me.

I hold different perspectives on who should receive and who should not. I question the Lord on his indifference to some and his largesse towards others. What seems right to the Lord often seems wrong to me.

So I step haltingly into the realm of faith. I trust the Lord’s overarching goodness, in his plans for me and mine and for those around the world. I have to trust—what else it there? Rebellion and despair otherwise.

Even though I may not understand, trusting the Lord in all circumstances is the way to life. Choose life, we’re told, and such life is found only in the Lord, regardless of the presence or lack of all the things we think we deserve.

Jeremiah 27 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Qingbao Meng

You can’t tame the tongue, you only hope to subdue it.

For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Social media represents the untamed tongue like nothing else in history. Vast expanses of opinions, complaints and attacks on anyone and everyone. When James wrote this line 2,000 years ago—the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness—doesn’t it sound like he wrote it this week?

Self-control faces no stronger test than the tongue. All I know to do is to ask the Holy Spirit to guide my language, to count to 10 when angry, to walk away while I can. Then, when all this fails, to seek forgiveness.

Because you can’t tame the tongue, you can only hope to subdue it.

James 3 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Johannes Krupinski

Certain courses of action, like reaching through the bars to pet the lions, won’t work out for your best. Those around you cringe, understanding what you obviously cannot comprehend (this really happened, more than once).

Messengers to king Jehoiakim cringed as they watched him listen to a message read in his presence from the Lord:

As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed…neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, nor did they tear their garments.

Earlier Jeremiah described the Lord moving in his anger—like a lion he has left his lair. King Jehoiakim poked the lion and earned his doom—his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. As so it was.

The issue at play? Jehoiakim and his entourage didn’t believe the God Jeremiah wrote of really existed. They saw the gods as ineffectual, make-believe, ideas to keep the rabble in check. These men were gods themselves, in charge of a kingdom, making important decisions. Words on a scroll delivered by a wild-eyed prophet served as entertainment, not as warning.

It may sound overly dramatic, but we disdain the Lord’s words to similar results. Paying attention to the Good Book pays off in the end.

Just because you believe the lion is tame doesn’t mean it won’t bit your arm off.

Jeremiah 36 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Jeremy Avery

A valuable trait for any of us involves listening. I know some good listeners, those who give attention to the speaker and ask good questions in response. I also know many, many people who never truly listen but merely formulate their opinion—which they interject at the next pause.

James puts it this way: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.

Quick to hear. In every situation, listen carefully, seek to understand, answer slowly and thoughtfully. In this way you’ll promote understanding and the righteousness of God.

I find these challenging words from James, who in the next breath encourages us to be doers of the word, and not hearers only.

Few things prove my doing better than my listening.

James 1 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Beth Macdonald