Our two boys spent an afternoon one summer with a bunch of friends at a local go-cart track and games pavilion. The oldest drove our old Mitsubishi Montero, a car I loved. The SUV ran really well, went everywhere in the snow, and was already beat up so I didn’t worry about teenagers denting anything.

While the kids enjoyed their afternoon, two other local teenagers practiced their craft of breaking into cars in the parking lot. They stole stuff from several vehicles, damaging each in the process. They hit our Montero, getting some CDs and change from the console. But the major bummer was they broke in by shoving a screwdriver into the doorlocks, tearing up both.

The two thieves where quickly caught—breaking into cars at a popular hang-out in broad daylight didn’t help their escape. After filing a report, a few weeks later I heard from the judge. I sent in the bills for replacing the locks, and the judge ordered the two boys to pay the costs, plus extra for the time and hassle I spent getting the car fixed.

He ordered restitution—a biblical concept.

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord is guilty and must confess the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it to the person they have wronged.‘”

Over time, the boys who broke into my car paid me back every dollar I spent on the locks and then some. I got checks every 6 weeks for about a year. The culprits paid everyone back, and learned a valuable lesson (either crime costs you more than you receive, or avoid breaking into cars in broad daylight).

A lesson also played out within me. My attitude towards the young men who smashed my locks changed. I forgave much easier as they paid me back for their misdeeds. I rooted for them to learn and make better decisions in the future.

Their steady payments of restitution moved me from adversary to ally.

I have no idea where these young men are today. But I hope they benefited from their run-in with a wise judge applying biblical concepts.

Numbers 5 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo on Unsplash

In the section of Hebrews describing people of great faith, the author (unknown to us) tells of men and women who lived exciting adventures. People who passed through the Red Sea on dry land, the parents of Moses who hid him from Pharaoh, and the prostitute Rahab who welcomed the spies.

Then the writer turned to those whose adventure soured. Others who were tortured…some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning…killed by the sword…

They were sawed in two…

Who sawed who in two?

According to legend, Manasseh, furious with Isaiah for prophesying Jerusalem’s destruction, ordered his arrest. Isaiah fled to the countryside and hid in the hollow trunk of a tree. Once discovered, Manasseh ordered the tree cut down with Isaiah still inside.

The king sawed the prophet in two.

Quite a reward for faithfully proclaiming God’s words to his nation. Isaiah, and all the others who faced persecution and death for their faith, earned this commendation:

The world was not worthy of them.

Today in Ukraine followers of Jesus care for neighbors as shells fall around them. Other saints around the world face difficulty, ridicule, persecution and even death as they pursue the ways of the Lord. I forget the ease of my life and the practice of my faith.

So it helps me to remember that among us walk those of whom the world is not worthy, and from my place of safety I pray for them this day.

Hebrews 11 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Michael Fenton

I have the good fortune to know many, many generous people. When around a generous person, I feel lighter, like things will work out. There’s something about a generous spirit that infects those around them.

I like to think I’ve a generous person, but deep down I know I’m slower to give than I should. My wife lives her generosity way better, which laps over and helps me share better.

When the psalmist writes, blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands, I notice that twice in the following paragraphs the blessed person lives out their generosity:

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely…

They (the blessed) have freely scattered their gifts to the poor…

To experience the blessings of the Lord is unparalleled. A sign of such blessing, an outcome of my blessedness, a normal and correct response to understanding the ways the Lord blessed me, is to simply turn and bless others.

When one enjoys the blessings of the Lord (and I certainly do), then it’s my duty to spread those blessings around. To cling to them them is to ruin them.

Generosity grows the blessedness of the Lord. A good word for me, and perhaps for others of us less inclined.

Psalm 112 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Elaine Casap

If only I invested in Apple stock all those years ago…

If only I passed on that pizza at midnight…

If only I studied…

If/Only statements usually point to regret. But sometimes they point to promises at hand in danger of slipping away. Read the words of God through Asaph the psalmist:

If only you would listen to me, Israel!

If my people would only listen to me…

If Israel would only follow my ways…

Asaph goes on to underscore that if only the children of Israel obeyed the Lord, their enemies would collapse and evil would be punished. Better still, the finest of harvests awaited. My favorite promise he makes? Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

The Lord lays out the welcome mat to me and you. If only I listen to him, if only I follow, if only I turn my attention to the quiet, inexorable ways of the Lord, then I might open my mouth to be filled.

Psalm 81 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Jordan Nix