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Bible reading for weekend March 19 -- 21 Mar 19 -- Proverbs 6 and Galatians 5 Mar 20 -- Proverbs 7 and Galatians 6 Mar 21 -- Proverbs 8 and Ephesians 1 "Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death." (Proverbs 8:34-36) BAD CHOICES (ch 6). Here's a question I have often faced: when should we rescue people from their foolish decisions? For example, when should we bail out our children, or our friends, from the consequences of their bad choices? This requires wisdom. Chapter six begins with a warning about being surety, or co-signing on a loan, for someone who will likely leave you with the burden of debt (6:1-5). This will result in personal loss, while releasing the other person from responsibility. Labor and laziness (vv 6-11) will be a recurring theme in Proverbs, too. Though indolence is a...

Bible reading for March 17 -- 18 Mar 17 -- Proverbs 4 and Galatians 3 Mar 18 -- Proverbs 5 and Galatians 4 "When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, 'Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.'" (Proverbs 4:3-4)  GET WISDOM (ch 4). Four sections follow, each introduced directly to "my son" or "sons" (4:1, 10, 20; 5:1). Some scholars suggest Proverbs was written as a training manual for Solomon's sons, as future princes needing to learn about righteous leadership. Be that as it may, Proverbs is applicable for all the sons and daughters of the eternal King, our Lord Jesus. One thing highlighted in these chapters is the inter-generational, mentoring relationship between parents and children (cf Deut 6:4-9; Eph 6:4). God created the family, along with the church, to be the primary conduit of passing truth on to succeeding generations (Mal 2:14-16). As you ...

Bible reading for March 15 -- 16 Mar 15 -- Proverbs 2 and Galatians 1 Mar 16 -- Proverbs 3 and Galatians 2 "Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles." (Proverbs 1:5-6)  SAYINGS AND RIDDLES. One of the joys of parenting for me was spending time with children building Legos or working on a jigsaw puzzle. It takes time, with frequent looks at the directions (or picture on the box), and a measure of trial and error. It's best accomplished as a group project: "I'm looking for a piece this shape and color. Anybody see it?" Life is like this, presenting us with many puzzling and seemingly unrelated pieces. Behind the book of Proverbs is the assumption that the Lord created all things, great and small, in his infinite wisdom. The universe is intricate and inter-related, and care is needed in navigating its complexity. The moral life can be c...

Bible reading for September 30.  1 Kings 2. "I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn..." (1 Kings 2:2-3) A NEW REIGN. David gives his son Solomon a simple but straightforward charge (cf Deut 31:7-8; 2 Tim 4:1-2). He then dies and is buried in the City of David, which was the lower slope of the temple mount in Jerusalem. Though there is a traditional site of David's tomb in Jerusalem (I visited there in 1997) some archaeologists believe the tomb is yet to be discovered in the excavations of the older section of the City of David.  UNFINISHED BUSINESS. Solomon's reign will begin with a clean slate, and so his first actions are to conclude unfinished business from David's reign. Joab will fina...

Bible reading for September 29.  1 Kings 1. "And Solomon said, 'If he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.'" (1 Kings 1:52) A NEW KING. Yet another of David's sons, Adonijah, seeks to take the throne. David is aged, always cold, and seems unaware of the political intrigue. Solomon is designated the true heir of the throne and anointed at Gihon, the only natural spring on Mount Zion. Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, a close associate of David and commander of the palace guard, were in attendance. Solomon's first judicial ruling, that of probation for Adonijah, was fair and merciful by the standards of his day. Had Adonijah succeeded in his bid, the rest of David's sons, including Solomon, may have been killed. Through the wisdom and timely action of Bathsheba, Nathan, and others the rightful heir ascends to the throne.  REFLECT. There was a threat t...

Bible reading for September 28.  2 Samuel 24. "And David built there an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD responded to the plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel." (2 Samuel 24:25)  WHAT'S WRONG WITH A CENSUS? In the previous chapter we read David's "last words", but here the book ends by looking at another failure in the latter part of his life. Though David is a biblical hero, there are no sinless heroes except Jesus. David, a "man after God's own heart", must be viewed in the context of his times. There is a progress of revelation in biblical history: David, though not qualified to be a church elder in the NT period (too many wives!), yet he was different from other Mideastern kings of his day. His commitment to the one God, to the law, to righteousness and justice, and his compassion toward people in need excelled in his day and age. We end 2 Samuel, however, with a note of fa...

Bible reading for weekend September 26-27.  2 Samuel 22-23. "Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel: 'The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.'" (2 Samuel 23:1-4)  SIGNATURE PSALM (ch 22) . "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies" (vv 22:2-4). This is a nearly-verbatim parallel version o...

Bible reading for September 25.  2 Samuel 21. "Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, 'There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.'" (2 Samuel 21:1) WHO'S RESPONSIBLE? Here we read about judgment upon the house of Saul for breaking covenant with the Gibeonites. God is concerned for the just treatment of all people. The Bible teaches that there is both an individual human responsibility (Deut 24:16; Jer 31:29-30; Ezek 18:4, 20; Rev 20:15) and a corporate human responsibility (Ex 34:7; Josh 7:24; Rom 5:12-21). For example, we are sinners by our own choices and actions, but we also have sinned "in Adam" and thus are born sinners (Rom 5:12). The flip side of this corporate connection is that when we are "in Christ" his righteousness and life becomes ours. There are times in Scripture where family, or people con...