Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 48-49
NT: Matthew 15:29-39, Matthew 16:1-12
Ps: Psalm 20
Pr: Proverbs 4:20-27
Today´s notable verse:
2He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
Matthew 16:2-3 (NIV)
This passage reminds me of the old sailor’s adage, Red sky by night, sailor’s delight; red sky by morn, sailor be warned. Interesting, isn’t it, that even before men had the scientific knowledge of meteorology to understand why such an adage is true, God demonstrated that our universe operates according to rules that have been set in place? As our reading yesterday in Psalm 19 also stated, God reveals to us that He exists in the very order by which our universe exists. The existence of “laws” of nature belie the existence of a Lawgiver. The thought may not seem to be related to Jesus’ point here, but wasn’t He saying much the same thing? The Pharisees understood the signs of the creation, yet they were blind to the signs of the Creator. How true is this dichotomy in our world today – and how sad! The more we learn about our world and our universe, the more we realize that it is not the result of random chance. With everything we know today, more faith is required to believe in random chance than to believe that we are the result of intentional, intelligent design.
The One Year Bible Blog notes:
Comments from you & Question of the Day – Proverbs verses 25 & 26 are powerful and bring up a question I’d love feedback on – “Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; then stick to the path and stay safe.” One thing that jumped out at me in these verses is the ideas of setting goals. Are you a goal setter? …This Proverb verse kind of makes me wonder if setting goals helps us keep looking straight ahead? If goals help us mark out a straight path for our feet? And to stay on it? So, let me know in the Comments section below if you are a goal-setter? And to the extent you can share how you set goals? How often? In writing? How often do you check back in on your goals? Do they make a difference in your life? In your spiritual life?
I am definitely a goal-setter. Of course, I was that kid who was carrying around a 7-Habits planner in Junior High, and actually using it. 🙂 Remember the words of Paul:
13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV)
Paul clearly had goals – spiritual goals, and devoted his life to pursuing them. What better example, other than Christ Himself, could we emulate? I’ve used several methods to make, pursue, and meet goals in my life; however, if our aim is to have a “straight path” for our feet:
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)