Here’s an challenging thought brought to you straight from the Bible:

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

I immediately think of the Super Bowl advertising that ran during every break in the game. The average 30 second commercial cost $7,000,000. That’s just the cost to air the ad, not including the cost of production.

Super Bowl ads ran the gamut, featuring famous actors driving electric cars to famous actors eating Doritos (ads are a good gig for famous actors). Beguiling, each appealed to my desire for something I do not have, charming me into purchasing a product or service I forgot I needed. All webs spun to create discontentment.

Be content with what you have. These simple words remain powerfully countercultural. True contentment rests in our ultimate trust in the Lord, who promises to remain ever present and never turn his back.

I do not currently need a new vehicle, so I’ll remain satisfied with the one in my driveway (I’ll admit, truck ads are tempting). As much as I like Doritos, I’ll resist purchasing a bag, but if one shows up at the next party I’ll take that as a gift from the Lord.

Otherwise, I’m content (for now).

Hebrews 13 in reading the Bible in 2023

Graphic from Statista

Safe travels. Godspeed. Vaya con Dios. I enjoy someone who blesses me with kind words. I go out the door buoyed by their gracious thoughts.

The Lord shared a beautiful blessing with Moses, to be used for the ages:

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Read it again. Let this blessing sink in and lift your spirit. Share it with someone else and lift their spirit. Pray back the blessing to God—Lord, turn your face toward me and my family this very day. Be gracious to me and give me peace.

Amen. Enjoy the blessing of the Lord.

Numbers 6 in reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Zdeněk Macháček

Happy Saint David’s Day! I must admit, the day snuck up on me. But why not enjoy some Welsh rarebit and celebrate a holy day dedicated to the saint whose name I share?

St. David lived in Wales, grew to fame as a teacher among Celtic Christians, and helped found about 1200 monasteries. He died March 1, 589. Here’s his final words to a community of monks, men he mentored in the faith:

Brothers be ye constant. The yoke which with single mind ye have taken, bear ye to the end; and whatsoever ye have seen with me and heard, keep and fulfill.

David’s words remind me of another saint’s final charge to to a young protege. Paul wrote to Timothy, in his last letter before his death, words of promise and encouragement, including this mandate:

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. Keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

In other words, be ye constant.

This ancient saint’s death song echoes down fourteen hundred years, boosting my spirit on this day. Fulfill the work, keep the faith to the end, and ever be ye constant.

2 Timothy 4 in reading the Bible in 2023

For a couple years in high school I marched in the band. Band directors always impress me. Anyone who forms coherent lines out of flocks of teenagers possesses a bit of genius and a lot of determination. Bless them all for their efforts.

But as a teenager, I thought the band director oppressive. He forced me to carry my instrument a certain way, to go to an exact spot of the football field in line with everyone else, and even badgered me into walking heel-to-toe. Then do it all over and over. Dude, lighten up.

Enmeshed in my gaggle of pimply musicians, I failed to see the value of the discipline our band director enforced. But after weeks of practice under the late summer sun, a show emerged. Still only a small half-time performance, but a group of kids now moved in sync, blasting memorized music and thoroughly enjoying our new abilities—pulled out of us due to our director’s vision and discipline.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us of the value of discipline. God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. I tend to think of discipline as punishment, but that’s not the point here. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Discipline feels hard to bear, even unendurable at times. From my vantage point I cannot see the full picture of what lies beyond. But like my band director on his stand, the Lord knows the direction he wants me to move. I need to believe in the process, gain confidence as my director shifts me, and look forward the new show to come.

Hebrews 12 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Katrina Berban