Category: Bible (Page 313 of 419)

My elementary school-aged nephew poorly masked his glee when he dealt the Uno cards between the two of us. Since he’d left the room to prepare in private, I knew I faced a stacked deck, and I enjoyed the fun of the deception. After allowing him to celebrate his crushing victory, I insisted on a re-shuffle for round two. Now he faced a merciless, sharp-eyed Uno veteran.

Jacob, fresh off stealing his brother’s birthright by deceiving their father, fled to the lair of a master deceiver. Uncle Laban hooked Jacob with a promise to marry his daughter Rachel. On the wedding night, with Jacob three sheets to the wind, Laban switched Rachel for her sister Leah. Jacob, incredulous, exclaimed to Laban, Why have you deceived me?

Call it karma, or reaping what you sow, but Jacob the deceiver got taken to school. Laban played the game perfectly. Jacob experienced a master at work, now realizing how his brother and father must have felt.

Jacob might have known better, but love is blind, and his mother was back home. Rachel (his mother and Laban’s sister), concocted the plan to steal the birthright, and Laban fixed the marriages. Both excellent schemers.

What kind of family upbringing did Laban and Rachel experience? I wouldn’t want to play cards for money in their house.

There’s a saying I’ve heard about certain people—you can only trust them as far as you can throw them.

Seems appropriate for this family.

Genesis 29 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Adam Mills

The woman rushed home through crowded streets, ran through her doorway to the bedside, bent over to check her child, then sank to her knees, sobbing with gratitude. Her beautiful daughter slept calmly, at peace for the first time in years. Healed by a few simple words of Jesus.

Much is made of this interaction between a Greek woman and Jesus. She’s the one to whom Jesus spoke the line, it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs, referring to his mission to the lost sheep of Israel. Her response brought joy to the master—even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.

All she needed for her daughter were crumbs—if they dropped from the right table. She know that only Jesus possessed the power to heal her daughter. Here’s an insightful picture of prayer, of going to Jesus for what only he can provide, a lesson for us when we talk to the Lord.

But mostly I think of how happy and relieved and joyful this mother felt. How she chattered about Jesus and her daughter. How the neighbors stared in awe mingled with a tinge of fear. I wonder how her daughter turned out when she grew up? How did they take the news of the death of Jesus? How overwhelmed was the mother upon hearing of the resurrection?

One thing for sure, this mother spoke of Jesus to her daughter, her family, her neighbors, and maybe even her daughter’s daughters, right up to the day when finally she left for a seat at his table.

Mark 7 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Storiès

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