What struck me about our OT passage was Rehoboam's foolish decision to listen to the advice of his friends, who were simply telling him what he wanted to hear, instead of listening to the wise advice of his father's older advisors. We need to be careful in the friends we choose, because, as much as we may like to try to convince ourselves otherwise, they will influence us and the decisions we make. We need to be humble enough to listen to those who give us advice we don't want to hear. We need to be discerning enough to filter the bad advice from the good. We need to be wise enough to overlook what we want to be true, to see what is actually true - as always, this is done by filtering things through the Word and a biblical worldview.
In our NT passage, I was struck by both the faith of the paralytic, and even more so, the faith of his friends. They were the ones that did the work it took to get him to Jesus, and they would not have done that if they were not sure that their faith was well placed.
Over and over, Jesus contrasted the false teachings of the pharisees (salvation by works) with the true message of the gospel (salvation by grace). You cannot combine the two teachings (the wineskin analogy). You cannot teach that you are first saved by grace but then need to have works in order to maintain your salvation. You cannot teach that you must do everything you can to achieve salvation and then trust Christ to make up the difference. No! It is salvation by grace - and all the work is done by Jesus Christ. The works that we do are not to earn salvation, but rather to express our love and thankfulness to Christ for what He has done for us, and as a result of our desire to grow more and more like Him every day.
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: 1 Kings 14-15; Matthew 9:18-38
2 comments:
I too found it interesting too that Rehoboam kept seeking advice until he heard what he wanted to hear. This plan didn't work out for him, and it reminded me that I need to be sure that I am not self seeking, but motivated to do God's will.
What also stood out to me was the part about the man of God from Judah. He was listening to God by not eating or drinking and returning home a different way until he met a prophet claiming that an angel of the Lord told him to feed him there. I would have thought that this man would have questioned this a little more, but it made me realize how easily we can be mislead if we are not fully in tune with God.
The company we keep is important. We need to be supportive of our children and encourage friendships for them that will build them up and not lead them astray.
I always thought this was so important:
12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
We can be so quick to judge without thinking.
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