Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Isaiah 30-31; Romans 2.
I'm going to focus on the OT passage today, specifically Isaiah 30:9-11:
9 For these are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the LORD’s instruction.
10 They say to the seers,
“See no more visions!”
and to the prophets,
“Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things,
prophesy illusions.
11 Leave this way,
get off this path,
and stop confronting us
with the Holy One of Israel!”
Does anyone else see the present in these verses? Many people don't see or want to see the truth of any difficult subject. God. Religion. Politics. Abortion. War. Homosexuality. Drug abuse. Casual sex. Obesity. Health food. Animal "rights". All is perception. "How can we spin this?" - In other words, make it sound better or different or basically Febreze the manure? We do not wish to hear this, so we will pretend it does not exist. Then there are those who are pushy and confrontational about issues, but present them from such a skewed viewpoint as to be completely misleading. They say they are revealing the truth, but are presenting such a one-sided argument that the truth is nowhere to be found.
Does anyone else, particularly as a parent, find this a little frightening? It's not too hard right now to teach our children the difference between telling the truth and telling a lie. My children, anyway, are young enough that they aren't capable of thinking about grey areas yet. Everything is still black or white to them. But what about as they get older? How do we teach them to discern what is true and what is BS? A few strides in the right direction would be by teaching them the Bible, encouraging them to memorize verses, and somehow conveying to them the importance of reading it for themselves on a regular basis. Oh, how hypocritical I feel as I type that! I struggled all my life with reading the Bible for myself on a regular basis. I memorized a whole bunch of verses, portions of many of which I can still remember, but I am absolutely dreadful with references. Thank goodness for Google!
And so, I am thankful again for this blog and the accountability I have found here, and I will once again resolve to read to my children from the Bible as often as possible. I do the children's story at church about once a month, and so often I find myself choosing a subject that applies to me and the congregation in general, not just the children!
Anyway, I digress. One more thing stood out to me today from the Romans passage.
Romans 2:13: For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
Back to obedience, like we talked about last week! We can read the Bible every day of the week and go to church twice on Sundays, but only when we obey are we declared righteous in God's sight. Obey. Obey. Obey. Hmmm... theme for my next children's story? Could be!
Have a wonderful Thursday and a great weekend.
Tomorrow's passage: Isaiah 32-33; Romans 3.
2 comments:
I noticed those same passages! I totally see the present in those words from Isaiah and whenever I think about how "Febrezed" this world is (LOVED that analogy, by the way!!), I am worried about making sure I teach my girls how important it is to know God's Word and to want to obey and please Him.
What struck me about Paul's words is the importance he placed on obedience to the law even though Jesus' death had already happened. In the Bible it was addressed and certainly now, among Christians, we often hear, "but we're not under the law anymore; we're under grace," which they seem to see as an excuse for not living a life concerned about holiness. And yet here Paul clearly says obedience to the law is still what will please God and earn favour with Him.
Grace doesn't mean we don't have to live by His rules anymore; it means WHEN we mess up because we're human and we simply CAN'T follow all the rules perfectly, we can have another chance. And another one. And another...
Shoot, my comment somehow got deleted. I'll try again....
Love the febreeze analogy btw! ;)
Bang on with this post Miriam, bang on!
And Tammi, so true how many Christians use (or rather MISuse) freedom and grace as excuses for not living a life concerned with holiness.
Discernment is so crucial in today's world of gray. Which is why we need to truly know the Word. And why I'm thankful for this blog and the impact it's had on my life. Because oh, how I long to instill in our kids' hearts a longing for God's Word, a love for Him demonstrated by obedience to His Word. And we know that kids learn by watching how we live and what's important to us. So, I need to press on in this journey both for my sake, and for theirs.
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