Daily Reading
Daily Thought
“And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Again. That’s putting it mildly. The verse is Judges 3:12, but it is also Judges 2:11; 3:7; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; and 13:1. What is astonishing is they do all this bad behavior while God is looking down on them.
This guy walking along the sidewalk near the middle school in our neighborhood had finished a can of coke. I watched him glance to his left, then over his shoulder, and seeing the coast was clear, toss the can into the hedge on his right. Let’s think through his thought process. He is walking, looking forward and no one is there. Left, no one; behind, no one. He does not have to look down since that is the ground, and the hedge is on his right. No one is looking, so it is safe to litter. Forward, behind, left, right, and down, he had every direction covered. Except up. He did not look up. He did not think about God.
God was watching the Israelites, but they were not thinking about God. The book of Judges begins with the generation after the generation of Joshua. “And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord” (Joshua 2:10). Little wonder “the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” They were not looking up.
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:1-2).
Daily Prayer
Heavenly Father, by Your grace I am saved. Not by anything I did. I add nothing. Your Son, Jesus Christ, paid the price for my sins by His death on the cross. I was dead in my sins and you raised me up. You gave me life, a life overflowing.
I am Your workmanship, made to do good works. Father, You lead and I follow and You get the glory and I have a life that is full and satisfying and good. On the night before Jesus died, He ate bread with His disciples and drank from the cup, and said, from now on whenever I do this, remember He gave His life for me. God, may I always remember, never forget, always look up.
Amen
