I love the imagery conjured up when I read how creation will respond to the coming of the Lord: Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

Trees in a mighty choir giving voice to their joy at the coming of the Lord. Does this figurative language not hint at something deeper, a hope more wonderful than we dare imagine?

I wonder if at the dawn of creation trees actually sang? Perhaps the entry of sin and death into the world brought about at least one deeper repercussion than we realize—the silencing of the trees.

What music must remain pent up in our muted forests! When the Lord returns, how quickly will the woodlands of North American wake up and sing? As they blend their voices with those from vast stretches of Siberian pine and birch, imagine the crescendo when the harmonizing rainforests of the Amazon enter the score.

Better cover your ears.

So much exists around us on a spiritual plane we know nothing about. We glimpse only shadows playing on a wall. I believe we vastly underestimate the power and creativity and goodness of the Lord. Trees of the forest singing for joy hint at a world more wonderful that I can imagine.

Outside my window I look at a large ash tree, finally bearing fresh leaves after the long winter. I imagine it’s a tenor. When it wakes up to sing I hope I’m around to join in.

Psalm 96 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by David Bruyndonckx

I’ve entered foreign countries where my American passport elicited hardly a sniff. A glance, a stamp, and welcome to our country. Other nations, however, take a more thorough approach. Mostly the attitude depends on the current political climate between the country I’m entering and the United States. Communist borders always bring suspicious glares.

Despite a few instances, my American passport opens doors around the world. Citizenship carries benefits, which is why so many people apply every year. It pays to belong.

The apostle Paul appealed to his citizenship often. In Jerusalem, as Roman soldiers stretched him out in order to flog him, Paul brought up his citizenship. After questioning, the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. Paul was untied from the flogging post and released the next day.

Paul never praised or supported the brutality of Roman rule, but Paul never shied away from using the benefits of his status. While never preaching directly against the secular rule of Rome, Paul’s message of the coming King and the undivided loyalty Jesus required eventually unnerved those in power.

As a result the emperor took off Paul’s head, despite his citizenship. But 300 years later another emperor embraced the message Paul proclaimed and converted the empire to the faith. Whether he did so out of pure motives or not, the influence of the message of Jesus permeated Rome and beyond.

I carry my passport and use it whenever I travel. It holds gravitas and value. But it fades in comparison to the power inherent in the gospel. When citizenship opened doors Paul played that card, but always to introduce new people to Jesus, the ultimate guard over the borders of life and death.

Acts 22 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Jeremy Dorrough

I meet all sorts of people when I travel, usually sitting by someone on an airplane. I’m not super chatty, but I say hello and ask how my fellow traveler is doing. I might as well be friendly, as I’m going to sit closer to this stranger for a few hours than I do anyone else in my life, save my wife. Odd when I think about it.

Paul met all sort of people in his travels as well. On a trip from Ephesus to Jerusalem, Paul’s band stopped in at the coastal city of Tyre and stayed with a group of disciples for a full week. Then they moved on and met a group of brothers and sisters in the faith at Ptolemais. Next they reached Caesarea and stayed with Phillip and his four unmarried daughters, all devout followers of Jesus.

A prophet named Agabus arrived with an unnerving message for Paul—trouble awaited in Jerusalem. Not swayed, they headed to Jerusalem anyway, only to stop at the house of Mnason, described as a Cypriot and one of the early disciples.

What stands out to me is not that Paul met followers of Jesus on his journey, but the sheer numbers of new Christians mentioned in this brief travelogue. Paul met and spent time with dozens and dozens of committed converts. The faith spread rapidly and incessantly.

In my travels I’ve had numerous spiritual conversations and met a number of committed followers of Jesus. I’ve also met lots of people with spiritual interest but wondering about ways to engage. It’s a privilege when they let me share a bit of my faith journey with them, and I trust the Holy Spirit to work in their lives.

I should stop being surprised by the committed Christians I meet. The true faith spread in Paul’s day, and spread ever since. Who knows what saint I might be squeezed against the next time I fly?

Acts 21 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Chris Brignola

Sometimes I feel guilty when I look around and realize I’m prosperous, a person successful in material and financial terms. Much is written about privilege either enjoyed or lacked by those in this world, and I live on the upper side of the scale.

So it stuck me to read the psalmist pray that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones.

Should I pray for wealth and material gains? In this psalm, the writer chronicles the sins of Israel and the resulting oppression. This prayer is a cry for mercy and a return to inheritance. Here’s a plea to prosper once again under the favorable hand of the Lord.

To prosper might mean wealth, but in this case it means a close and meaningful relationship with the God who provides all we have. And we know from the rest of scripture that the Lord gives to us so that we might take care of others.

Prosperity is like peanut butter—it’s meant to be spread.

Should I pray for prosperity? Of course, if I pray for the type of prosperity graciously given from the hand of the Lord. I will benefit, and those around me will as well.

Knowing the source of our prosperity, we repeat these words with the psalmist: Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!”

Amen.

Psalm 106 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Markus Winkler