Category: Bible (Page 267 of 425)

This month, the flowers in my beds fade in anticipation of the fall. A few plant varieties create late blooms, like chrysanthemums and monk’s hood (also called wolf’s bane, whose purplish flower resembles a monk’s cowl). Still, I watch the season closing around me.

Flowers drop, vines die back, freezes descend. Nothing lasts forever.

Or I should say, only a few things live on and on and on.

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.

It’s worth dwelling on this line from the prophet Isaiah. The word of our God endures forever. The time we spend reading or listening to the scriptures intertwines us with eternity. We touch truths with no end, that carry through, that never die.

I scroll through lots of ideas and entertainment that are fascinating today and forgotten tomorrow. I try not to think about so much time wasted. But the few minutes of my day interacting with the scriptures point me to to the everlasting ways of the Lord.

May the flowers falling this season remind us of truth that endures forever, and rests patiently at our fingertips.

Isaiah 40 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo of Monk’s Hood—Wikipedia

My television burned smokin’ hot this weekend with the start of the college football season. From Thursday evening (Go Mizzou!) through Monday, football beamed its special brand of glory into my living room. Like a pig to slop, I wallowed in touchdowns and fumbles. Next weekend the NFL season begins—gotta let the TV cool down before that binge.

I draw some justification in my enjoyment of football thanks to Paul’s references to athletes and competitions. To the Corinthians he wrote, do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to win.

Paul highlighted the self-discipline all successful athletes exhibit—everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.

During one of the pre-game warmups this weekend, a coach walked among his players, patting them on their helmets and repeating this mantra: trust your training. The team drilled and sweated and studied for weeks—trained—to not only prepare, but to win.

The life of faith involves training and preparation and self-discipline. Time in the scriptures, praying and seeking the Lord, listening to the Holy Spirit and learning from others all build our faith for challenges ahead.

Finally, Paul worried about being disqualified. To avoid that fate he encourages us to train and prepare. So that in the midst of the games—the fierce engagements of life—we’ll find ourselves competing for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Gene Gallin

He sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.

The words describe Hezekiah, one of the latter kings of Judah. His father, the king before him, flipped God the bird and tanked both himself and his people. Hezekiah in turn rejected his father’s apostasy and came in from the cold.

FYI—pray for the next generation to seek God wholeheartedly, despite the foibles inherited from parents. It’s the best thing we can do for them.

Hezekiah prayed for his fellow citizens as they turned back to the Lord with enthusiasm, but without proper training in protocol. The Lord, demonstrating understanding and grace, heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

Hezekiah determined to return his nation to the rightful worship of the Lord. He went at the task with an enthusiastic, unreserved commitment. The people of Judah responded, destroying the idols and alters polluting the land, once again in tune with the ways of God.

The prompt is simple. To seek the Lord and serve without hesitation brings a prosperity of soul, if not a prosperity of life. Sounds a lot like love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

The world’s a crazy place, but seeking the Lord and working his ways with a warm and willing commitment appears to be the best—and only—way to cultivate true prosperity for you and me and those we love.

2 Chronicles 30 & 31 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Sigmund