Readings for Thursday, January 8 are:
Genesis 18:16- 19:38
Matthew 6:25- 7:14
Psalm 8:19
Proverbs 2: 6-15
All the readings for today are really good, but the one that really struck home for me--in a real personal way--was the one from Matthew. It really challenges me.
I used to be a real worrier. I'd worry about how I'd do on a test; I'd worry if people liked me; I'd worry about what others thought about me; I'd worry about something bad happening. As I got older, I'd worry about how the bills were gonna get paid or if something bad was going to happen to my family.
Then, something pretty cool happened. I became less of a worrier because one day I had an experience with God when I told Him: "You know. I'm tired of doing this by myself. I'm tired of worrying so much about what's going to happen to this sweet little baby that I'm having to take care of now all by myself. I'm going to give her over to You and just trust that Your plan is the right plan for me all along."
That doesn't mean I don't worry anymore. I do worry because everyone worries--it's human nature! But I at least have that experience to fall back on. I know that worry really doesn't get me anywhere. And I know that God wants to take my worry and carry it around with Him instead.
That's what the first part of the Matthew passage (the chapter six part) is talking about. He says that we shouldn't worry about things like what we're gonna eat or what we're gonna wear. God will take care of all of our needs. Why? Because HE LOVES US. And this extends not just to lunch or fashion; it extends to everything in our lives!
The second part of the Matthew passage (the chapter 7 part) is even more challenging to me these days. It tells me that if I expect God to forgive me and to not judge me...well, I can't judge other people around me. Wow! That's really convicting....because I really like to judge people. I like to think that I'm better than them. I like to think that I'm doing okay because, at least, I don't have the problems that those other people have.
One thing that has always helped me with this challenge from God is something I tell McKenna and Delaney all the time. I tell them to look at other people, not as an irritating person or someone they can't get along with or someone who's not doing what God wants them to do...but, intsead, look at that person as a child of God. They need to remember that God loves everyone--you, me, that friend, that enemy, that teacher, that parent, that brother or sister... as a child of God just as worthy of God's love as they are. That puts it in perspective for me and helps me not judge that other person quite as much.
I really do want to be more like Jesus. It's something I strive for everyday, and it's not always easy. But Not Worrying and Not Judging are two things that can help me get closer to that goal.
(Any thoughts on the Matthew passage?
Any thoughts on the other passages for the day?)
I hope you guys all have an awesome Thursday!
--Cheryl
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I so agree with you, Cheryl.
ReplyDeleteThe Matthew & Psalm passages together complement each other. Psalm says that the Lord must be a pretty amazing being to be able to have created everything we can see. The passage in Matthew says that the Lord cares & nothing is beneath His notice – to the point where He has our very hairs numbered. How can He not know every detail about us? He created us!
He also created the people around us. We need to respect others as though they are God’s creation, because that’s what they are.
Genesis:
In Genesis 19:17, when Lot was told not to stop while he traveled through the valley. This is the same valley he once thought so dear of, when he chose the place he would dwell in.
Plagiarizing from the Amplified Bible’s footnotes:
Lot's wife not only "looked back" to where her heart's interests were, but she lingered behind; and probably overtaken by the fire and brimstone, her dead body became incrusted with salt, which, in that salt-packed area now the Dead Sea, grew larger with more incrustations--a veritable "pillar of salt." In fact, at the southern end of the Dead Sea there is a mountain of table salt called Jebel Usdum, "Mount of Sodom." It is about six miles long, three miles wide, and 1,000 feet high. It is covered with a crust of earth several feet thick, but the rest of the mountain is said to be solid salt (George T. B. Davis, Rebuilding Palestine According to Prophecy). Somewhere in this area Lot's wife looked back to where her treasures and her heart were, and "she became a pillar of salt." Jesus said, "Remember Lot's wife" (Luke 17:32).