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bible reading oct 7



Bible reading for October 7. 

1 Kings 10.

"And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the LORD, there was no more breath in her." (1 Kings 10:4-5) 

BREATH-TAKING GLORY. This chapter is about the magnificence of Solomon's empire. The Queen of Sheba travels from Ethiopia to see it, and the glory of Solomon's kingdom takes her breath away (v 5). His wisdom is seen not merely in the answers he gives to her questions (v 3), but also in the architecture, the honor of his table and guests, the organization of his servants, his rule of justice, and his worship of God through offerings. It was more than personality, the glory was seen in all his works, as well. 

HAPPY ARE HIS SERVANTS. There's a parallel for us, in that our Lord Jesus is the King that Solomon foreshadowed. Soon enough the reader will see Solomon's failures. We, however, do know something about the glory of Christ and his kingdom. We too live well by his wisdom, we embrace his love for righteousness, we await the beauty of his divinely-built environment ("I go to prepare a place for you...", Jn 14:2-3; Rev 21:1-2), we see how he fed the multitudes, invites us to his table, and is now preparing a heavenly banquet, and we too are servants organized into the church. Above all, we see his love for his Father and how he gave himself as the offering for our sins: He "gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father..." (Gal 1:4) It is more than just how good Jesus is in himself, it is all the good that he does, too. What a King! How happy his servants must be!  The Queen of Sheba said, "Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness" (vv 8-9). Do you find Christ and his reign to be breath-taking? Would you describe yourself as a happy servant of Christ? 

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Philippians 1.

"...it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:20-21) 

A PRISON LETTER. Things were hard: Paul was confined in Rome (Acts 28:30-31; AD 60-62) and the church in Philippi was financially poor but caring (2 Cor 8:1-4). There was a special bond between this apostle and this church. Despite the difficult circumstances this letter is filled with joy and gratitude. This is one of the best NT letters for younger Christians to read first. Paul begins with a greeting and a prayer (vv 1-11). He is confident about God's work in them (v 6), that God will complete it. The rest of the first chapter is about God's purpose for them (and us) when suffering opposition for Christ's sake. The gospel is going forward no matter what, and for Paul, living or dying is a win-win (v 21). As believers in Christ we are granted the privilege not only of believing in him but also of suffering for his sake (vv 29-30). This present age is a spiritual battlefield, as we saw in Ephesians 6. 

WITH JOY.  The words "joy" or "rejoice" occur fourteen times in this one epistle. In chapter one, for example, see vv 4, 18, and 25. G. K. Chesterton once said, "Joy is the gigantic secret of the Christian." When I was a young Christian at college we used to sing a little chorus that went, "Joy is the flag flown from the castle of my heart when the King is in residence there." This is so true! What hindrances do you see in your life that prevent you from experiencing the joy of the Lord? Why not track down every occurrence of joy in this epistle and see what Paul is teaching about joy? 

Image credit: photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash. We are following the Robert Murray M'Cheyne (RMM) two-year reading schedule, as arranged by D. A. Carson. Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. One recommended resource is NETBible.org, a ministry of bible.org. 


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