Yeah maybe we'll be back up to date by tomorrow night... Maybe... Things are getting busy! Onto business then,
Today’s readings
Leviticus 15:1-16:34
Mark 13:32-14:16
Psalm 31:1-8
Ewww again. This is all a bit too much for a Sunday lunchtime. Bodily fluids all over the place! But it's the same message. God's bothered about us and wants us to stay healthy. God's laws are there to protect us and keep us safe as well as keeping other people safe too. Sometimes that actually means other people being kept safe in spite of our feelings or our pride but God loves them just as much as us and we have to remember that being a Christian means we need a level of humility in our lives also.
And why do we have these laws? Because God wants to spend time with us and be able to talk to us and love us. The next chapter illustrates to what lengths He is willing to go to ensure that the Israelites can be in a close relationship with Him. Fab news!
Into the New Testament we rise and it's interesting how Jesus tells His disciples to be alert for His return. He'd know that it wasn't going to be in their lifetime so why tell them this? Well I think that Jesus wants us to always be wanting His return but to also be living a life that we can be proud of when we do meet Him again. We then get the gift to Jesus of the expensive perfume. We've talked about this before but it's worth remembering again that we need to be giving our best and our all to Jesus because it will be used to make the world a better place, closer to His ideal plan.
Judas' betrayal is interestingly portrayed here. He doesn't even seem to want the money as it is an afterthought from the priests. Having done Connect this morning and talking about when we get thoughts that aren't actually ours but whispered to us from the Devil during this life of spiritual warfare. I find it hard to believe that Judas would betray Jesus so easily considering how close he would have been to Jesus. To me, this is another warning about being able to spot the thoughts and plans we have that come from Satan's demons and once we recognise them we should fall back onto the truths that God has given us in His word.
Finally our Psalm starts today and amidst the usual poetry of crying out for help we have verse 6 which seems a little odd. Hating religion but trusting God. We've been talking about how God's laws help us live our lives but here David says he hates religion but trusts God. So is religion God's laws? Should we hate it? I think the key here is to remember that the only thing that will save us is God and that while the church is a vital part of a Christian life, we should never place our hope or trust in the church or in another Christian but always look beyond it to God as our starting point.
And that's your lot for that one. Yesterday's song is here. Questions, criticisms and comments welcome as always,
Jon
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