Deuteronomy 21:1 – 22:30
Notable Verse 22:6-7
“If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. 7 You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.”
The reading today is a collection of assorted laws that seem to have to particular rhyme or reason for being collected the way they are other than that is how God to choose to write it. Today I read, or we if you are following along, how to handle discovering a dead body, rules on home building and clothing and in the middle of all of this is a very interesting pair of verses.
What caught my eye this morning was the end of verse 7. The blessing of taking the chick but leaving the mother is neither for her benefit, nor in some ecological roundabout way a blessing towards the earth. It is a personal blessing. God seems to have a special place in His heart for mothers, even animal mothers. And damaging that relationship, even in what seems to be a very trifling way brings about disastrous consequences.
Luke 9:51-10:12
Notable Verse 9:62
“Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Sometimes it seems life is full of backward glances. I guess that is just part of being human. I don’t think God disapproves of taking stock of our lives as a whole. But this verse seems to link all the way back to Lot’s wife. The consequences for her were immediate and deadly, the consequence of a look back towards earth. We may not experience the results of looking back as quickly as Mrs. Lot, but the end result is just as deadly.
Every time I turn the dimmer switch to the light I am to shine to the world out of embarrassment, fear, or awkwardness I am declaring myself unfit for God’s service. This verse is leading me to repent and seek more courage. I hope it does for you as well.
Psalm 74:1-23
Notable Verse: v. 22
“Rise up, O God, and defend your cause; remember how fools mock you all day long.”
I cringed reading this today. I subscribe to about 400 blogs (where do you think all of the H&D stuff comes from?) Every day, I get news from around the world that is just insane. Not merely atheistic, but intentionally going out of its way to make fun of God and His people.
Take a Gay Pride March as an example, not because I think it is the worst thing a person can do, but because the characters that are often seen there are most noticeable in what I am saying. In almost every newspaper or magazine there are the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence”, men dressed as nuns with overly done makeup, and have turned the habit itself into something trashy. Isn’t it enough to simply march and say “I’m gay, deal with it.” Why is there such a strong attack on the Catholic Church? Why is there such a need to mock?
Daily I get pictures of Jesus as a Pedophile, God as an ignorant fool, Bibles with warning labels (not to be taken literally or you will become stupid) and I wonder like David did, how long until His wrath is poured out. All God did was promise never to flood the earth again, there are many more ways to destroy a nation. Perhaps we are seeing this now.
Proverbs 12:11
“He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment.”
What is there to say? Stop dreaming, wake up and smell the coffee.
