Saturday, June 24, 2017

June 24

2 Kings 6:1-7:20; Acts 15:36-16:15; Psalm 142:1-7; Proverbs 17:24-25

Do you realize we're almost halfway through our One-Year Bible?  Yay, us!  Keep reading, catch up if you can, start anew if you've fallen off the pace.

Our Old Testament reading today is such a series of far-reaching extraordinary moments, some extraordinarily good, some extraordinarily awful, some just extraordinarily extraordinary.  Consider the floating of the iron axe head or the tremendous fortune of the lepers in the Aramean camp. Consider the bloodthirstiness of the king of Israel ("Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?" [2 Ki. 6:21]) or the absolute horror of the two women's cannibalism.  Consider the "hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around" (vs. 17) or the incredible 24-hour reversal from siege to abundance.

Our New Testament reading is also full of extraordinary moments, but they are near-reaching extraordinary moments in the lives of individual people.  Consider Timothy's willingness to be circumcised in adulthood, or Paul's vision of the pleading Macedonian, or Lydia's conversion to Christianity.  Each of these men and women hears and then responds to the call of God.

Not only do men and women hear God and then respond, but God hears men and women and then responds.  The psalmist is dependent upon that premise today.  There's an honesty and dependence in Psalm 142.   God must hear him, for "no one [else] is concerned for [him]. [He has] no refuge; no one cares for [his] life" (Ps. 142:4).  He needs rescue; he needs to be set free (vs. 6).  And so he cries to the Lord, sure that eventually refuge (vs. 5) and goodness (vs. 7) will result.

Lord, let us turn toward you as a refuge in the ordinary moments of our lives, whether they be moments of pain or of joy or mundanity.  Help us to "[keep] wisdom in view," not letting our "eyes wander to the ends of the earth" (Pr. 17:24).  Teach us to live faithfully, that we might be attentive to the extraordinary moments you may place before us.  Amen.
  

- Sarah Marsh

 How did God speak to you in Scripture today? Click here to share your reflections on God's word or read past posts. We'd love to hear from you. 

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