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Daily Bible thoughts 764: Monday 8th December 2014:

 Isaiah 55:1-7

‘’Come…Listen…Seek…’’ Verse 2 poses a relevant question: ‘’Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?’’ The Message. This has relevance for every day of the year, but it seems especially pertinent as we approach another Christmas. The festive round of over-indulging on drink, food and presents is about to begin. Come 2nd January, people will find that they are no more satisfied than they were last year, or any other. The binge will once more lead to the same disappointing results: feeling flat, fat, and broke (and even in debt.) And all through the year we give our time and efforts to things that cannot fill the inner void. ‘’ Why be content with that which is not real food, which does not truly satisfy? The question is addressed to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, who were becoming complacent; they were getting comfortable in Babylon. And the Lord asks them: Are you really satisfied with the things Babylon has to offer? Is this all you were created for?’’ Tom Hale: The Applied Old Testament Commentary, pages 1058, 1059.In this passage God calls His people to find their deep, true satisfaction in Him alone. The words, originally addressed to the exiles in Babylon as we have seen, have relevance to us today. We are called away from obsession with things that do not fulfil to a profound God-centeredness. The invitation says:

  • ‘’Come…’’ (1). Four times in the first verse you read this word. God calls us to come to Him, and our spiritual hunger and thirst will be freely The cost to God was incalculable (Isaiah 53), but the gift to you and me is free. As you read these words in Isaiah, you may also call to mind the words of Jesus (John 4: 10, 13, 14; 7:37-39; Revelation 22:17; John 6:35). What Jesus said must have had a significant Old Testament resonance in the ears of those who heard Him. When God appeared on earth in human form He was still saying ‘’Come’’. It’s been pointed out though that it is hard to give spiritual blessings to those who don’t want them; to give the good news of the gospel to those who are disinterested. There must be ‘thirst’. ‘’Hey there! All who are thirsty, come to the water! Are you penniless? Come anyway-buy and eat! Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk. Buy without money-everything’s free!’’ The Message.
  • ‘’Listen…’’ (2b, 3a). See also ‘’Give ear’’ and ‘’hear’’. If we come to God we must also listen to Him, if we are to benefit from being near Him. We have to ‘apply’ ourselves to His truth (as we saw a couple of days ago). ‘’Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.’’ The Message.
  • ‘’Seek…’’ (6, 7; see Jeremiah 29:13, 14). A life of going hard after God begins with repentance and continues down that road. It is not enough to deeply desire God’s blessings; we have to also want to progress in His ways. There is wonderful promise here for the truly repentant. But there is also an urgency; a warning that the ‘door of the ark’ will not always be open. There is a day of opportunity that will pass. So, now is the time to seek the Lord.

If we come to God, listen to Him and seek Him, turning from all He shows us to be wrong, He will make our lives ‘missional’ (5). He will attract people to Himself through us (see Titus 2:9, 10). Ultimately, the promise to David is worked out in Jesus (3; see Acts 13:34), who will bring people from all nations to Himself through the witness of His people (Matthew 28:19.)

Prayer: Lord God, I very much want to take you up on your invitation. So I come to you in order to hear your voice and obey. Please help me to do so.

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Daily Bible thoughts 763: Friday 5th December 2014:

Proverbs 23:10-18

Spiritual application: A friend of mine spoke about the pastor of a thriving church. When asked about the ‘secret’ of his success, this Christian leader replied, ‘I am a serious reader of the Bible.’ It was the only answer he felt he could come up with. God mightily uses people who take His Word seriously. There is much about our culture that is trite, and many Christians have a superficial relationship with the Bible. They are by no means ‘serious’ readers. They skim-read it, if they look at it all. There will come a point where the Bible will read you, if you will allow it. But it is less likely to happen if you’re just skating across the surface. Application is required for best results (12). But application is what we feel (and what we say) we don’t have time for in these busy, busy lives of ours. The poet, Davies, wrote, ‘What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?’ The people who get the most out of the Bible take the time to ‘stand and stare’. Or, they sit and stare. Maybe, even, kneel and stare. Whatever their physical position, they give God’s Book the space to work deeply on them and change them. This is not just about gaining head knowledge; like cramming for exams. It is about opening your ‘’heart’’ as well as your ‘’ears’’. What is said in this twelfth verse about proverbs/wisdom literature, can (and I believe, must) be extended to include the entire Bible. But in this sound-bite culture, that fosters short attention spans, application does not come easily.

If we take God’s Word seriously, here are some things that will ensue:

  • We will take justice seriously (10, 11): This proverb is about respecting the property rights of others; not unjustly taking their land. We have regard for those rights out of fear of God. He is the God of justice. ‘’For they have a powerful Advocate who will go to bat for them.’’ The Message. God cares for the vulnerable, and you don’t want to Have Him for an opponent.
  • We will take discipline seriously (13, 14): A clear sign that our society has moved the ‘’ancient boundary stone’’ of God’s Word is seen in the erosion of proper, loving discipline in the home and the classroom. In too many ways and at too many times children are allowed to rule. Things have been turned on their heads. It’s madness! Furthermore, the consequences are immeasurably bad. The Bible does not advocate cruelty, but there is a right application of discipline that brings wisdom (15, 16). The word ‘’withhold’’ (13) causes me to think that it is a form of robbery if we fail to discipline our children. We owe it to them to bring correction. ‘’Don’t be afraid to correct your young ones; a spanking won’t kill them. A good spanking, in fact, might save them from something worse than death.’’ The Message.
  • We will not envy the people around us who close God out of their lives (17, 18). Through God’s Word we are given perspective and insight. We are enabled to see life clearly; to see through to the true nature of things. Why be jealous of people who are going to end up in Hell? Why would anyone want to change places with them? People who are going to ‘’be left with an armload of nothing.’’ The Message.
  • Our lives will be saturated in reverence for God. We will be ‘’zealous’’ in fearing Him – wanting His honour and glory above all else.

Prayer: Lord God, people have given their lives to make it possible for me to read the Bible. Help me, then, to read it with the utmost seriousness.

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Daily Bible thoughts 762: Thursday 4th December 2014:

 Psalm 109:21-31

The psalms show that we can be ‘honest to God’.

This is a vulnerable prayer (22): There are times when we need to admit that we’ve been cut and we are bleeding. If you attempt to suppress the hurt it will come out in some other way. The best thing we can do with our wounds is to bring them into the presence of God for His healing. ‘’Do thy friends, despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer? In His arms He’ll take and shield thee. Thou wilt find a solace there.’’ I wonder if the writer of that much-loved hymn had this psalm in mind when he wrote those beautiful words. As we saw when we looked at the first part of the psalm, there were people who were being bad to David, when he had only ever done good to them. No wonder he was in pain. This was a gross injustice.

This is an intense prayer (24): I read about the ‘Full gospel church’ in Seoul , Korea. At the time it was internationally known as the largest church in the world. They had a place called ‘Prayer Mountain’ – a prayer centre up in the hills behind the city. I remember reading that when the Christians in that church had a problem, many of them would go to ‘prayer mountain’ for a few days. They would book themselves into a rather spartan room, with not much in the way of furniture (or heating!). And they would pray and fast, and come away with answers. Some Christians today look askance when you mention fasting, but Jesus did say ‘’When you fast…’’ (Matthew 6:16), and it remains a legitimate and important form of prayer. Somebody once said to me, ‘It’s your body praying.’ There come times when you may need to set yourself to ‘pray through to breakthrough’ and fasting may be part of that.

This is a prayer for God’s glory (27): David desired a work of God that would be for the glory of God. He wanted the Lord to intervene and for everyone to see that He had done this. ‘’Then they’ll know that your hand is in this, that you, GOD, have been at work.’’ The Message. ‘’His desire is not simply for a solution but for such a solution as is unmistakably an act of God and a public vindication of spiritual reality (31).’’ J.A. Motyer: ‘New Bible Commentary, p.560

This is a confident prayer (28-31): David had full expectation that God would do what he was asking of Him.

‘’For the believer, in every situation, another set of factors operates. However numerous and vicious foes may be, however trying and disastrous our circumstances, there is always But you, O Sovereign Lord…’’ J.A. Motyer: ‘New Bible Commentary, p.560.

Prayer: Thank you Lord that when the outlook is gloomy the ‘up look’ is always bright.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 761: Wednesday 3rd December 2014:

 Ephesians 1:15-23

It is a remarkable thought that Jesus has been made to be ‘’head over everything for the church.’’ (Underlining mine.) He has been put in that topmost position for our sakes, and this has application to prayer.

Many years ago, when I was a pastor at ‘Bridge Street Church’ in Leeds, I arrived early one evening for a men’s meeting. I found the door to the cellar open, and there was a light on. So I made my way down the steps to see who might be there. But before I set eyes on anyone, I heard the voice of the church’s head usher. He was a lovely, practical man, whose heart was in serving the Lord. What came to my ears was the sound of someone pouring out his heart to His Saviour. I beat a hasty retreat. I felt I was trespassing on sacred ground. I probably learned more about him in those moments than at any other time. When you overhear someone praying, you feel their heartbeat. What’s that saying? ‘’What a man is on his knees before God, that he is and nothing more.’’

In today’s reading we stumble across Paul on his knees, and we get to take his pulse. I find it challenging to think how persistent Paul was in both praise and prayer (16, 17: ‘’I have not stopped giving thanks…I keep asking…’’ ) Paul saw positive qualities in the believers he was writing to (or, rather he had ‘’heard’’ about these characteristics) and He thanked the triune God who was shaping their lives and prayed for yet more of His transforming activity. Do you remember what I said yesterday about the Trinitarian format? Well, here it is again. The Son, the Father and the Spirit are mentioned in (16, 17). So what did Paul ask?

  • That they would know God better (17): He knew that this could only happen by virtue of ‘’wisdom and revelation’’ imparted by the Spirit;
  • That they would have insight into the future God has prepared for them (18a): He prays for heart knowledge of this ‘’hope’’;
  • That they would know how rich they are because of God (18b – OR, how rich God is because of them; see Deut.32:9. It is not totally clear whether this ‘’glorious inheritance’’ is ours or His. Of course, both realities are true, regardless of the meaning here.)
  • That they would know the power available to the church (19-23). Remarkably, this ‘’incomparably great power for us who believe’’ is like the power that raised Jesus from the dead and put Him on the throne of the universe. ‘’All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.’’ The Message. Remember that God gave Jesus all this power and control ‘’for the church’’.

‘’Thou art coming to a King; large petitions with thee bring. For His grace and power are such, none can ever ask too much.’’

Prayer: Thank you Lord for the stupendous power available to us.

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Daily Bible thoughts 758: Friday 28th November 2014:

Isaiah 54

Another repeated theme in the later chapters of Isaiah is that of great numerical growth (see Isaiah 49:19, 20). It is a growth so significant, indeed so miraculous (‘’barren woman’’), that it takes more than the return from Babylonian exile to account for it. These verses must look toward the coming of the Messiah and the advancement of His Kingdom. Following His suffering and triumph, which we thought about yesterday, we see the outworking of that victory in the world. The Apostle Paul quoted (1) and applied it to the ‘’Jerusalem that is above’’, i.e. the church (Galatians 4:24-28). Let’s not be content with a small vision, but work for, and pray for, and expect the church’s growth.

‘’In Christian terms, the Calvary of ch.53 is followed by the growing church of ch.54 and the gospel call of ch.55.’’ Derek Kidner: ‘New Bible Commentary’, pp.663, 664

Verses 1-3: The little post-exilic community of Jews did grow and spread out to some degree, but these words are now being fulfilled in the expansion of Christ’s Kingdom on earth. ‘’Spread out! Think big!…You’re going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family. You’re going to take over whole nations; you’re going to resettle abandoned cities.’’ The Message.

Verses 4-8: Jerusalem will forget the ‘’shame’’ of her ‘’youth’’ (the slavery in Egypt), and the ‘’reproach’’ of her ‘’widowhood’’ (4 – the exile in Babylon). She has a Husband, her ‘’Maker…the LORD Almighty’’ (5). She was like a ‘’wife deserted’’ (6), but was only ‘’abandoned’’ for a ‘’brief moment’’ for her unfaithfulness. However, God was going to turn things around (7, 8) and bring His wife back into the family home. The separation was never going to be final; it was just with a view to bringing the wayward spouse to her senses; a ‘short, sharp shock’ you might say!

Verses 9, 10: This was a ‘line in the sand’ moment, such as when God promised that He would never destroy the world again by a flood (Genesis 9:11). Here He promises that His ‘’covenant of peace’’ will never be removed (10). He will never stop loving His people. They can count on it.This is the covenant in which the Lord promised to be Israel’s God forever (Genesis 17:7). It includes within it a promise of protection and security – that the spiritual enemies of God’s people will never prevail against them (Matthew 16:18).

Verses 11-15: Here we have a figurative description of Jerusalem following the exile. But it is even more a picture of the ‘’new Jerusalem’’ which will come down from heaven at the culmination of history (Revelation 21:2, 10, 11, 18-21). There is no guarantee that God’s people will not come under attack, but in the midst of that they can know ‘’great…peace’’ (13).

Verses 16, 17: ‘’This is the true strength of God’s city, which is promised not immunity from attack but the unanswerable weapon of truth (17; cf. Lk.21:15).’’ Derek Kidner: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.664.

Prayer: I thank you Lord Jesus for the working out of your triumph in the world, and for allowing me to be part of it.

 

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 756: Wednesday 26th November 2014:

 Isaiah 52:1-12

The proclamation of ‘’good tidings’’ at the core of this passage, is an announcement of freedom for the captives in Babylon. It is important to always remember that Isaiah wrote these words more than a century before the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. During Isaiah’s lifetime, Assyria was Judah’s main enemy. But years in advance, the prophet was enabled to see not only Jerusalem’s fall to Babylon, but also the ultimate fall of the Babylonian empire. So we hear the good news that God is reigning, and the captives will be returning (7-10). Again, there is going to be a second exodus (4). God will lead them home (11, 12). God would not have to pay Babylon in order to retrieve His people; they never stopped belonging to Him (45:13).Although these verses primarily apply to the return from Babylon, they must have a greater relevance to the good news of worldwide salvation to come in the Messiah, Jesus (see Romans 10:15). The deliverance from Babylon was nothing in comparison with this. As so often in the prophetic writings, there are layers of meaning. It is fitting that this prophecy of Jerusalem’s redemption should be followed by the one about the suffering Servant. Through Jesus’ sacrificial death, worldwide deliverance was going to be made possible.

God’s punishment of His people, namely their exile in Babylon, provided a reason for the ungodly nations to ‘’mock’’ Him. They were saying, ‘’God can’t save His own people.’’ But God was going to take steps to reverse that opinion and glorify His Name before all peoples (4-6). ‘’…incessantly, my reputation blackened. Now it’s time that my people know who I am, what I’m made of…’’ The Message. In (7-10) Isaiah envisages messengers running across the ‘’mountains’’ towards Jerusalem, to bring the good news of the returning exiles. This return will silence the mockers (5).

In (11, 12) there is a final call to the captives to ‘’depart’’ from Babylon and its ungodliness. They should not defile themselves by touching any ‘’unclean’’ thing or engaging in any unclean act. This exhortation was particularly relevant to the priests and Levites in their company, who were charged with carrying back the sacred temple articles to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:7-11). In the New Testament era, we still need to heed this call to holiness (2 Corinthians 6:17). God has made it possible for us to ‘’Come out’’ from ‘Babylon’ and its pervasive influence. We don’t have to be controlled and dominated by it (Revelation 18:4).

By the way, Ezra, who led back the first group of exiles, must have taken this promise to heart (12; see Ezra 8:22, 23).

‘’In verse 2, Isaiah calls on the Daughter of Zion – Jerusalem and its people – to rise up. God has freed them; therefore, let them act like free people. This is a message for Christians today: we have been freed through Christ, yet too many of us live as if we were still in bondage to weakness, fear and sin. We need to ‘’rise up’’ and claim our freedom to live as free men and women (John 8:31-32, 36; Romans 8:2; Galatians 5:1).’’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1053

Prayer: Lord God, please give us beautiful feet, to carry your good news everywhere. Thank you for the greater freedom Jesus brings. Help us to fully live in it, and declare it to everyone we can.

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Daily Bible thoughts 755: Tuesday 25th November 2014:

Isaiah 51:17-23

This is the second of three ‘’Awake, awake!’’ references that come in the space of two chapters (51, 52). The first one was a prayer, asking God to do something (51:9). But in the next two references God responds by telling Jerusalem to do something (51:9, 52:1). In a sense, a prayer for revival is one in which we ask God to ‘wake up His power’. Of course God’s power is never sleeping, but, at times, it can feel like it is. So we ask God to show His muscular ‘’arm’’. Then, in revival, God wakes up His church. Only once in these two chapters does the church ask God to wake up, but twice, God tells His church to wake up. God doesn’t need waking up. It just seems to us that He does. But His church does require an awakening. We are so often like Peter and John on the Mount of Transfiguration: ‘’very sleepy’’. Only when we become ‘’fully awake’’ will we see Jesus’ ‘’glory’’ (Luke 9:32). What kind of impact would a fully awakened church have on this nation; indeed on this world? May God have mercy on us for being so dopey!

God tells Jerusalem and its people to wake up because it’s a new day. They had ‘’drunk from…the cup…’’ of God’s ‘’wrath’’ (17). This is like a cup of strong wine that overwhelms the drinker and makes him ‘’stagger’’. However, all that was in the past. Their enemies would now be made to drink from that bitter cup (22, 23).

‘’You’ve drunk the cup GOD handed you, the strong drink of his anger. You drank it down to the last drop, staggered and collapsed, dead-drunk. And nobody to help you home, no one among your friends or children to take you by the hand and put you in bed. You’ve been hit with a double dose of trouble – does anyone care? Assault and battery, hunger and death – will anyone comfort? Your sons and daughters have passed out, strewn in the streets like stunned rabbits, Sleeping off the strong drink of GOD’s anger. The rage of your God. Therefore listen, please, you with splitting headaches, You who are nursing the hangovers that didn’t come from drinking wine. Your Master, your GOD, has something to say, your God has taken up his people’s case: ‘’Look, I’ve taken back the drink that sent you reeling. No more drinking from that jug of my anger! I’ve passed it over to your abusers to drink, those who ordered you, ‘Down on the ground so we can walk all over you!’ And you had to do it. Flat on the ground, you were the dirt under their feet.’’ The Message.

It is a wonderful gospel truth that no-one in the world need fear drinking the cup of God’s anger, if they put their trust in Jesus who drank it to its dregs for them upon the cross (Matthew 26:39). This passage says that with God there can be a new day and a second chance. Ultimately, all new beginnings in the gospel stem from the cross.

Prayer: I may not know, I cannot tell, what pains He had to bear; but I believe it was for us, He hung and suffered there. Thank you Jesus.

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Daily Bible thoughts 754: Monday 24th November 2014:

Galatians 6:11-18

Some people think the illness that brought Paul into the orbit of the Galatians (4:13) was an eye condition. Here is one reason why (11; see 4:15) Paul suffered unimaginably for the gospel (2 Corinthians 11:21-33), yet he gives this fact only a cursory mention in (17). There is something profoundly touching and sad about his words. Paul was ‘’persecuted’’ (12; see 4:29) because he was cross-centred (12-15). One reason why the message of the cross leads to a backlash is because it crucifies pride. It gives you no ground for boasting about yourself and your achievements. You can’t say, ‘I’m in the Kingdom of God because of my efforts; my religious activity. I’m here because of my own merits, because I was circumcised (or some other religious thing.)’ The cross gives you nothing to ‘’boast’’ about except ‘’the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.’’ (14). Simply through faith in ‘’Christ crucified’’ (1 Corinthians 1:23, 24) people are born again and made anew by the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17). We could argue that (15) sums up the entire letter to the Galatians. It is about ‘’grace’’ , ‘’mercy’’ and ‘’peace’’ (18, 16). We don’t earn anything; we don’t deserve anything because of some religious thing we do. We receive forgiveness of sins and a right standing with God through trust in Christ and His finished work on the cross. He puts His Spirit into us and makes us brand new people. ‘’When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.’’ The cross of Jesus gives you nothing to brag about, and that is one reason why it gets its preachers into so much trouble. Paul knew that the very people who insisted on the need for circumcision/keeping the law, in fact did not keep the whole law themselves. They were highly selective in what they did (13)

Bill Hybels, the senior pastor of ‘Willow Creek Community Church’ ,Chicago, was attending a party on a boat one night. Just as he was stepping onto the ladder to leave, one of the guests shouted to him, ‘’Hey Bill, What’s the difference between religion and Christianity?’’ He knew that he only had a moment or two in which to answer, but this is what he said: ‘’Well, I spell religion ‘D.O.’ because it’s about all the things that people do to try to get right with God. But I spell Christianity ‘D.O.N.E.’ because it’s about what Jesus has done on the cross to make it possible for us to come to God. We just have to receive this as a gift.’’ We could say that the message of ‘Galatians’ can be summed up in terms of ‘do versus done’. The Judaizers were saying, ‘Do’. They said there are things you have to do to be saved, in addition to believing in Jesus. Notably, they argued, ‘You have to be circumcised’. Paul, however, resisted that notion. ‘It’s all been done for you on the cross by Jesus,’ he retorted.’ You simply have to receive this gift.’ In every generation of the church, people will come along who in some way pervert the truth of the gospel. They will re-shape it in their own image. The error may take on a subtle form, or it may be glaringly obvious. However it appears; whatever shape it takes, ‘Galatians’ shows that Christians must stand for the truth standing on the truth. I don’t believe we should get obsessed with erroneous teaching. Some Christians do, it seems to me, and I don’t believe it is healthy. They become spiritual ‘bloodhounds’, with their noses perpetually to the ground, sniffing out heresy wherever they can find it. They end up finding it where it isn’t! Nevertheless we need to be always on the alert, and ready to put the ‘gloves’ on for the sake of truth.

Well, we can do no better than leave the final word with Paul: ‘’May what our Master Jesus Christ gives freely be deeply and personally yours, my friends. Oh, yes! The Message.

Prayer: Thank you Father God for your amazing grace!

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 753: Friday 21st November 2014:

Galatians 6:1-10

At the heart of this passage you find a statement that encapsulates a truth found all through the Bible (7), namely that what you ‘’sow’’ you will also ‘’reap’’. If you plant corn, you don’t expect to harvest potatoes! ‘’What a person plants, he will harvest.’’ In everything we do or say we are ‘sowing’, either to ‘’please’’ the ‘’sinful nature’’ or ‘’the Spirit’’ (8). Actions have consequences, for good or bad. It depends on the nature of the ‘seed’ we are scattering. (I remember a well-known Christian author/preacher saying that we cannot keep sowing to ‘the flesh’ and expect to grow spiritually. It doesn’t work like that.) We have seen, in this letter that you don’t do good in order to become a Christian. It doesn’t work like that. But as a Christ-follower, indwelt by His Spirit, you are set free to do good (see Ephesians 2:10). This is not in order to become something, but because of what you are in Christ. So we are to sow seeds of goodness everywhere (9). Whether appreciation is shown or not; whether it seems to have any impact or not; whether we benefit from it or not, realise the results are in God’s Hands. We can trust Him with the harvest. Faithful seed sowing must lead to a crop. God will give us what we have worked for. ‘’Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.’’ (10).The Message. At times, we may feel that those around us don’t show the consideration we might like to receive from them. But the issue is not how others are behaving. We can’t control that. We can, however, do something about our own behaviour. We can walk out into each new day, determined to sow goodness seeds everywhere, and as many as possible. Being and doing good today, by the power of the Holy Spirit, are within reach of all true believers in Christ. How many opportunities to do good did we miss yesterday? Today is a new opportunity. Let us ‘seize the day’.

Here are some ways we can show this goodness to others:

  • By gentleness (6a; compare with 5:15, 26): ‘’If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out.’’ The Message. Our aim should be to lift people up where possible, not pull them down.
  • By humility (1b, 3; see Romans 12:3): Recognise your own weakness, vulnerability to temptation, and proneness to fall.
  • By giving mutual support (2; see 1 Corinthians 12:26).
  • By not comparing or competing with our brothers and sisters (4, 5). It is sadly possible to feel good (or better) about yourself by thinking ill of others. But the gospel tells us it is not our job to judge anyone. Conversely, we can look at other people and feel inferior. The message is, ‘Just be yourself in Christ.’ With God’s help; with the power of His Spirit in you, be the best version of who He made you to be that you can be. The only person you can legitimately compare yourself with is Jesus. Doing this will keep you humble. ‘’Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.’’ The Message. The ‘’load’’ in (5) is different from the ‘’burdens’’ in (2). It is about doing your duty; fulfilling your own God-given responsibility; being who God has made you to be.
  • By generosity (6). In this particular case the point relates to looking after those who teach the Word. Prayer: Thank you Lord that this day will be crammed with opportunities to do good. Help me to see, and to seize, each one, for your glory.

 

 

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