Today’s reading:
OT: Genesis 3, Genesis 4
NT: Matthew 2:13-23, Matthew 3
Ps: Psalm 2
Pr: Proverbs 1:7-9
The One Year Bible Blog asks:
Maybe it is verse 4 that really stands out to me about John – “John’s clothes were woven from camel hair, and he wore a leather belt; his food was locusts and wild honey.” I think this is really saying that John lived a simple life. He did not “major in minor things” – he “majored in the major thing” – Jesus! Is there something we can learn from John the Baptist in our lives today? Are we perhaps focusing too much on things of this world and not enough on God and Jesus? Are we truly loving God and loving people like John did? Or are we spending our life “majoring in minor things”? Will we instead “major on the major thing” that John is calling us to even today – complete passion and love for God, Jesus, and other people?
I think it’s a matter of perspective. John the Baptist had an eternal, rather than temporal, perspective – the same perspective to which we Christians today are called. I don’t think it coincidental that most of the Old Testament prophets were idiosynchratic with respect to the culture of the day. That such people were outwardly set apart from their contemporaries was also indicative of an inward attitude of being set apart for God. The same was true for John the Baptist, and the same can still be found to be true today. (And I don’t just say that because I’m a strange character myself. 😉 )
I think John the Baptist exemplified what Jesus later taught, that our God, who feeds the birds and clothes the plants, will provide. The less we concern ourselves with the details of what God has already promised to provide for us, the more we can devote ourselves to discerning and fulfilling the amazing purpose God has for our lives. The less we concern ourselves with what others think of us, the more we can devote to pleasing and glorifying our Creator.
I read that Proverbs chapter 1 verse 7 is basically the foundational mission statement for the entire book of Proverbs. So, I guess we ought to pay attention to this one! “Fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. Only fools despise wisdom and discipline.” What does this proverb say to you? Do you believe we should fear God? Zondervan’s NIV Study Bible defines this fear of God as “a loving reverence for God that includes submission to his Lordship and to the commands of his words.” Do you believe that fear of God is the beginning of knowledge in our lives? Will you embrace wisdom and discipline in your life? Will you make wisdom and discipline top priorities in your life in this new year of 2006?
I think the Zondervan definition of fear is pretty appropriate. Unless we know who God is, respect his holiness, and understand how utterly lost we are on our own, we will have no desire for the knowledge He wants to give us: knowledge of how to be reconciled to him, and how to live the life He would have us live: purposeful, prosperous, and abundant – zoe life. To the fool, “ignorance is bliss.” Not knowing the nature nor the inevitable outcome of one’s life may allow one to live a life free of guilt, but, as this verse tells us, such a path is truly a fool’s errand.