Jesus battled back and forth with religious teachers, including a group referred to as the scribes. They skillfully used religion for personal gain:

Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widow’s houses and for a pretense make long prayers.

Lurking in the middle of this warning is the phrase devour widow’s houses. Endless prayers and envious glances only formed the veneer. From these men’s hearts bubbled deep reservoirs of vile. Devour speaks of rapacious greed. Stealing widow’s houses points to calloused hearts. Where did those widows go without a home?

Here flourished a religion of personal gain, the top shepherds fleecing the faithful. A weaponized religion of exploitation.

No wonder Jesus attacked these scribes over and over. He understood their heinous, unrepentant hearts.

Pride entices down broad, destructive paths. From a power trip of holding a crowd silent during a long-winded prayer to foreclosing on widows seems a stretch, but for the arrogant the leap is not so long.

Lord, check my pride. Point out where my greed gets the better of me—where I’m tempted to devour rather than to care.

Mark 12 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by fikry anshor

When my wife and I married many years ago, we stood before friends and family to pledge our faithfulness to each other—’til death do us part. All those guests served as witnesses to our commitment, celebrating with us as well as holding us accountable to our vows.

Jacob and his uncle Laban set up a pile of stones—a witness heap—to mark their vows not to harm each other in the future. The rocks marked the boundary between their tribes. Jacob then stood and took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.

This name only appears here, spoken by Jacob before his family on one significant occasion.

Isaac still lived. His awe of God and dedication to the Lord impressed his son, so Jacob swore to a God he now called the Fear of his father.

Jacob deceived his father, stole his brother’s birthright and fled from home. Over the years, it seems that Jacob reflected on his actions. He now hoped to walk with the Lord wholeheartedly, matching the ways of his father. His father’s faith slowly seeped into his heart.

As a parent, I hope my faith serves as a positive example to my children and grandchildren. As an older believer, I hope my faith helps those who come after to turn to the Lord.

All any of us can do is fear the Lord—walk with Him in awe and dedication—and pray that future generations make vows in our names.

Genesis 31 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Jessica Johnston

I pray hard at times and no movement occurs. So I must admit to the skepticism that creeps in with these words from Jesus: Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

I understand that God answers prayers—He has answered some of mine—but not every prayer all the time. God responds based on his all-encompassing power, but also limited by his love. He may not want me to have all that I desire.

There’s another aspect Jesus brings up about prayer that I conveniently overlook. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

I offer effective prayer to the sovereign God only when I couple my requests with a willingness to forgive. Perhaps my doddering prayer life results from such a lack of forgiveness? It’s not for nothing that Jesus taught us to pray, forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

To forgive as we have been forgiven forms a bedrock concept for a follower of Jesus. I need the Holy Spirit’s help to forgive, just as I need help to pray and believe and see mountains finally move around me.

Mark 11 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Chris Liverani

People suffer for all sorts of reasons, often due to either personal limitations or sinful actions. The writer of Psalm 107 points to suffering in the desert and on the high seas, in sickness and in prisons.

Even when people’s rebelliousness brings suffering, despite shaking fists and bitter curses, the Lord does not stay angry. In each instance the psalmist records:

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.

The most defiant sinner, when in trouble and close to death, can turn to the Lord. The act of humbly crying out for salvation catches God’s attention.

I easily drift toward a view of God as punisher. But here I see the Lord’s compassion. God does not stay angry forever. He wants none to perish but all to follow him—even the most rebellious. Even you and me in our rebellion.

When in trouble, cry out to the Lord in earnestness and humility, especially if you brought the trouble on yourself. The Lord may fix your problem, or more likely the Lord will leave your problem and begin to fix you.

Psalm 107 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Ahmed M Elpahwee