The One Year Bible - Day 250

There is something unusual when we are in love. Although love is not material or physical, it causes physical reactions in us, something which the materialist atheists would presumably put down to survival! But there is something very deep and fundamental about the love which causes our hearts to skip, which causes us to smile, which means we cannot wait until our next contact. Sadly, I think we treat Jesus like someone who is always hanging around and is therefore boring rather than someone we enjoy so much that we are pleased to take Him with us into every situation. When was the last time you really looked forward to prayer or praise as an opportunity to spend time with God?

The One Year Bible - Day 249

Song of Solomon is a great book because it is both an explicit love song between men and women but it is also an intimate metaphor of a life between humans and God. The feelings that the colourful language invoke can easily be seen as those that we feel with another that we love but how much harder for us to relate to our relationship with Jesus? How often does that make us blush or feel distracted? How often do we talk about that relationship to the annoyance of others? This intimacy is available with Jesus in a spiritual way, we just have to pursue it. Love can fade in human relationships without effort, how much more so towards God?

The One Year Bible - Day 248

We are told that a great evil occurs when kings give positions of authority to fools. We might chuckle and distance ourselves from the principle (we are not kings!) but have we thought what this might actually mean for those of us who are managers in the workplace or leaders of the church? Who do we put into positions of authority? People who are proven, gifted and humble or just people who might have been around a while or who complain a lot unless they are kept busy. Are we brave enough to stand up to these 'fools' and not allow them into areas of influence that they are not called to or do we just try and keep the peace?

The One Year Bible - Day 247

Must keep up, must keep up.... Today we consider what is really valuable in life. Ecclesiastes talks about a good reputation and we might all nod in agreement. Of course wisdom, honesty, character etc are the most important things in life but what do we really spend our time and effort on? If you're like me, a lot of time is spent trying to get more things. A newer car, a better job, more respect or influence. In reality, I do very little to encourage reputation, honesty and character. It might mean not spending time with certain people or in certain situations which we know can harm our integrity. It might mean giving things up that are preventing us from praying and reading the Bible. In might mean loads of things but this is certainly another area which is good in theory and very weak in practice.

The One Year Bible - Day 246

Ecc 5:1 As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. Enough said!

The One Year Bible - Day 245

The beautifully entertaining and insightful book of Ecclesiastes comes to us courtesy of the wisest man who ever lived Solomon. His advice? Everything is meaningless. He was actually talking about the pursuits of man rather than everything but his advice is sound. If there was an old head I would want on my shoulders, it would be Solomon's. If he can say that he has tried everything and it was meaningless then I should trust that chasing women, power, influence or popularity will not bring any more meaning to my life - it might in fact bring less. Pursuing God however is another matter. Why spend 99% of our time on matters that will not exist in eternity? Pursue God and everything we invest in lives forever.

The One Year Bible - Day 244

Today is particularly relevant to me because we are reminded again that men speak with such massive boasts. The ridiculous contrast between the amount we think we know about everything and the reality of how small and insignificant even the most powerful king is cannot be described in words. We talk like we know how to run the world, like we can sit in judgment on everyone else despite knowing so little about even ourselves. God is gentle with Job but humility really needs to be our foundation here. The only judgment that should ever come from our mouths should be from God's revelation only.