Author: Dave Dishman (Page 314 of 475)

Last week I tested positive for Covid-19.

It seems that the omicron variant finally caught up with me, as it’s done with tons of other people. I experienced covid like a really bad cold, and spent last weekend on the couch watching football (my wife quipped—not that different from most weekends). Today I feel mostly recovered, just a bit wrung out. Another weekend of football should polish off the lingering effects of this virus.

The opening words of King David in Psalm 4 spoke to me in the midst of my illness:

Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

Relief from my distress sounded pretty good, and this with a covid experience milder and less tragic than many others around the world. It’s nice to know that I can breathe and pray, and the Lord hears.

David closes with a thought appropriate to these days of pandemic. While we continue to invest in safety protocols, and in vaccines and boosters (I have had both), a simple virus eludes our best efforts to squelch it. David reminds us who remains in ultimate control:

In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Thank you, Lord, for modern medicine and for your hand of peace in my life.

Psalm 4 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Giorgio Trovato

Hell.

Jesus spoke clearly and unequivocally about hell, a topic modern teachers discount, explain away, and gloss over. We are averse to the idea that some might spend time in hell (an eternity?) while others escape the fate. Hell’s ok for Hitler, but not for anyone else.

But the words from the mouth of Jesus leave little to doubt and plenty to the imagination. He speaks of those who cause others (or themselves) to stumble, particularly those harming the faith of children. He pounds the message that it’s better to enter the kingdom of God scarred and crippled than be thrown into hell, where:

The worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.

Jesus issued a stern warning. Hell is one important reason I want my friends and neighbors to hear about Jesus, to read these words for themselves and give them thought. But I also realize that these words apply to me.

Jesus sat and discussed this topic with his disciples. He gave them pause, forcing them to stop and consider the severity of causing others to stumble while on the path of Jesus. I need to pause and consider as well.

It jumps out to me that hell, at least to Jesus, was a very real place—and he should know.

Mark 9 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Robert Gunnarsson

In the midst of a busy season of healing the deaf and mute and blind, of restoring sanity to children and feeding crowds of thousands with a few loaves of bread, Jesus took time to teach.

Our culture nurtures an image of a safe and gentle Jesus, and like most caricatures, Jesus meets these criteria at times. But when you read the words of Jesus, the stuff he actually taught, the lines those closest to him chose to write down, safe and gentle fades.

Whoever want to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

I just watched two month’s worth of advertising, from before Thanksgiving through the new year, totally aimed at crushing any concept of denying myself. Why such an onslaught? To capture the revenue flowing through the season surrounding the Christmas holiday. As a culture we celebrate the gift from heaven with wild spending (and in full disclosure, we spent plenty ourselves).

The idea of denial had no room in advertising or commerce. Consumption rules. Which is why these words of Jesus burn from the page—what good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

As a follower of Jesus, I simply must stop and consider this concept of denying myself. It looks different for everyone, but I’m convinced it does not look like the advertising aimed at me day after day.

Mark 8 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Joshua Earle

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

The writer of Psalm 107 shares several examples of the Lord’s goodness. The Lord gathered the redeemed from their enemies, delivered wanderers from deserts, released prisoners from darkness, broke chains of oppression, stilled storms on the sea and even saved fools from the afflictions of their own ways.

Then the psalmist ends with this encouragement: Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.

I don’t reckon I ponder the loving deeds of the Lord enough. I ponder lots of things, like football, politics, finances, various news feeds, interesting books, movies, and my next meal. Only occasionally the loving deeds of the Lord.

Sounds like a good practice for a new year. Ponder more, and remember the many, many wonderful deeds of the Lord in my life.

Psalm 107 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Hugh Han