9/7/20
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
Our reading in Proverbs 4 points up the difference between the way of wisdom and the way of folly. Through wisdom, which is here defined as doing what is within God’s revealed will, we can find security and even long life.
On the contrary, those who have departed from God’s wisdom are not content until they have brought harm on someone. The way of folly is destructive. Wickedness, violence, and stumbling are on the way of folly.
So many in our world today think that the Bible is an old, out-of-touch, irrelevant book full of primitive ideas that are intended to cause trouble for anyone and everyone. Much of Western Christianity has, sadly, been willing to go along with these views. We are told that we don’t matter. We shrug and act like we don’t matter. We are told that we are intolerant because we think the Scripture speaks of differing roles for male and female. We find a way to argue that the Scripture says male and female are alike and that they are “mere” social constructs. We are told that political solutions are what we really need if we are going to have justice in the world. We become social activists. We are told that Christianity doesn’t have answesr to hard questions. We act as if we are ignorant of the thousands of years of practice Christians have had dealing with hard questions in the world.
What’s wrong with us? God has given us words of life, of peace, of hope, and many means by which we can care for our fallen and hurting world. It’s high time we recognize this and act as if we have received the gifts our Lord would have us bring to our world.
Lord, help us be instruments of good, not of evil. Amen.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
Our reading in Proverbs 4 points up the difference between the way of wisdom and the way of folly. Through wisdom, which is here defined as doing what is within God’s revealed will, we can find security and even long life.
On the contrary, those who have departed from God’s wisdom are not content until they have brought harm on someone. The way of folly is destructive. Wickedness, violence, and stumbling are on the way of folly.
So many in our world today think that the Bible is an old, out-of-touch, irrelevant book full of primitive ideas that are intended to cause trouble for anyone and everyone. Much of Western Christianity has, sadly, been willing to go along with these views. We are told that we don’t matter. We shrug and act like we don’t matter. We are told that we are intolerant because we think the Scripture speaks of differing roles for male and female. We find a way to argue that the Scripture says male and female are alike and that they are “mere” social constructs. We are told that political solutions are what we really need if we are going to have justice in the world. We become social activists. We are told that Christianity doesn’t have answesr to hard questions. We act as if we are ignorant of the thousands of years of practice Christians have had dealing with hard questions in the world.
What’s wrong with us? God has given us words of life, of peace, of hope, and many means by which we can care for our fallen and hurting world. It’s high time we recognize this and act as if we have received the gifts our Lord would have us bring to our world.
Lord, help us be instruments of good, not of evil. Amen.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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