Tuesday, July 26, 2022

 

Tuesday, July 26, 2022


Psalms 65; 70


Hosea 2:1-13


Romans 4:13-25



No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God...



Today's section of Hosea has made many trendy modern types uncomfortable. Graphic imagery of a man casting out his unfaithful wife does not blend well with today's culture wars. But since we are faithful students of God's word, let's try and figure out together what God is saying to us.


Let's think for a moment about what state of mind the husband in this situation must be in. (This is imagery; God teaching us invisible spiritual truths using examples we would understand.) Marriage is meant to be a covenant of trust: two people making a promise to stay exclusive and faithful. If one of those people runs off and misbehaves with other people outside the marriage, that trust is broken. There is no more relationship. This brokenness makes the faithful person in the couple very upset.


This trust is what Paul means when he says “faith”. In our modern language, the word “faith” might as well have the word “blind” before it, because it has lost all meaning. Faith in the biblical sense does not mean “intellectual assent”, since “even the demons believe” (James 2:19). Jesus told us we should be like little children (Matt 18:3). Even children have some basic level of critical thinking; their faith is not blind. The advantage they have over us is their trust. Just as the little children trust the adults in their life to have their back, our “saving faith” is a complete trust that God is looking out for us, blessing us, even saving us unto eternal life and love in His warm embrace. Jesus died and rose from the dead. Do we trust that this is enough?



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monday, September 12, 2022

  Monday, September 12, 2022 Psalm 33 Habakkuk 1:1-11 Ephesians 1:1-14 In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. The lectionary has taken us from the beloved disciple to one of the most beloved of Paul's epistles: Ephesians. Paul must have loved this church very much: we get a sense of his fondness for them and their shared sense of purpose and worship just from the introduction. In what is likely just an introduction to a letter in the style of the ancient Roman world, Paul has managed to squeeze in the entire, wondrous story of God's work of redemption. Paul has framed it the way it ought to be framed: in a pastoral, encouraging tone. He has three main points here (remember, Paul proceeds logically to build up an argument, unlike John who circles around his main point). First: God intended to save us before the world was formed. Think back to the first l
Read more

“Short time or long – I pray to God not only you but all who are listening become like I am, except for these chains.”

  Monday, September 11, 2023 Psalms 28; 29 1 Kings 7:51-8:21 Acts 26:19-32 Observance: Deiniol, bishop (d. 384) “ Short time or long – I pray to God not only you but all who are listening become like I am, except for these chains.” The great many blessings of being under the protection of the blood of the Lamb fill our hearts with joy and peace. To have the Almighty Creator of the universe, the One who sits above the flood, filling the temple of our being with the cloud of His presence is what it truly means to be human. Every day is filled with adventure; every night turns to the rest of the victor. Certainly there are chains: sometimes they are physical chains, the suffering of being a Christian among people who do not love the Lord. Sometimes they are spiritual; the attacks of the powers of the air who try to distract us from the One we love. But they always fall away. Our Rock of Ages always frees us; always brings us out of the pit of despair. A won
Read more

Monday, September 19

  Monday, September 19 Psalm 45 Nahum 1:15-2:9 Ephesians 4:17-28 ...be renewed in the spirit of your minds... It is far too easy to read some of these Pauline lists of virtues and vices and feel like we have gone back to the dark days before the Reformation. The idea that if we behave ourselves then we can call ourselves “good people” is pagan, not Christian. Paul feels very strongly about how Christians behave, he “affirms and insists” upon it. But it is because of what has already happened that we should mind our step, not because of where we are going. Christ's resurrection is many things, but one aspect relevant for Paul's teaching this morning is that it demonstrates to us the radical new reality in which we now live. We too have passed (spiritually) from death to life; therefore, we experience a “renewal of our minds”. Instead of treading water until we die, we live lives. Everything now makes sense: God has spoken, so we have logic. God made us in His im
Read more