Woe To Those Who . . .

Reading: Isaiah 3 - 5
My Verse:  "Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
                         and shrewd in their own sight!  (Isaiah 5:21)

The book of Ecclesiasties illustrates this folly of man - this delusion that we can be wise in our own eyes.  Sadly, Solomon, gifted by You, LORD God to be the wisest man ever chose to know and pursue the "wisdom" of the world rather than pursue YOU.  I have often wondered at this story of Solomon, why did this happen. Why are we provided this story of a man who had so much going for him, only to squander that life on worldly pleasures?  Is it because this is such a strong draw for all of us?  We desperately need to be warned of the folly of being "wise in (our) own eyes?"

We all of us have this gnawing need deep within for "something."  We pursue many things in myriad ways, constantly chasing after this "something."  Nothing ever satisfies this longing.

I read David  Brooks NYT article on "The Moral Bucket List" in which he recognizes this need.  He speaks of how if we only pursue the kind of achievements the "world" deems as success;

"years pass and the deepest parts of you go unexplored and unstructured.
You lack a moral vocabulary.   . . . slip into a self-satisfied moral mediocrity."

He goes on;   "you live with an unconscious boredom, separated from the deepest meaning of life and the highest moral joys."

Brook outlines some good things one can do become a better person, but he prefaces this outline of his with these words.   "I realized that . . . I was going to have to work harder to save my own soul. I was going to have to have the sort of moral adventures that produce that kind of goodness."

Throughout Your word You tell us that if we seek You first then and only then will our lives be fulfilling and complete.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" - Matthew 6:33.

You also tell us that only You will suffice, only You, LORD God can satisfy this thirst.  As Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4.  Brooks alluded to this when he said.  "But people on the road to character understand that no person can achieve self-mastery on his or her own. Individual will, reason and compassion are not strong enough to consistently defeat selfishness, pride and self-deception. We all need redemptive assistance from outside."

Jesus makes it clear this outside help can only come from Him!  "but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." - John 4:14

Thank You for this teaching, LORD God.  We cannot depend on our own devices - we need You.


"Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
                          and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
                       so their root will be as rottenness,
                          and their blossom go up like dust;
                    for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts,
                          and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah 5:24).

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Empty Worship

Empty Worship

Reading:  Isaiah 1
My Verse:  “ Bring no more offerings of vanity (emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and futility); [your hollow offering of] incense is an abomination to Me; the New Moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure—[it is] iniquity and profanation, even the solemn meeting" (Isaiah 1:13).

Oh, LORD God, how we must try You!  You want our all - nothing less!  You tell us in Matthew 22:37.   "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."  How often do I approach You hurriedly and carelessly - making my selfish demands?  How often do I just go through the motions and offer up only empty worship?

You plead with us to "bring no more offerings of vanity."  You don't want us just going through the motions of worship as if to appease You!  You don't want our pious pretensions!  You don't want us to be doing "works" that we can then boast of!  All that is futile, it is vapor - vanity.

You, LORD God, say; "[your hollow offering of] incense is an abomination to me." No one can do enough good to get themselves into heaven!  So many try!  So many believe that they can! But You tell us very clearly.   "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).  You, LORD God say " . . . for apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

"The New Moons and  Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure . . ."  How many churches have succumbed to practices to appeal to the young?  How many have put aside Your Holy Truth to accept and take on currently popular beliefs, practices and philosophies that contradict Your precepts?  Oh, LORD God, You call us to be the "salt" of the earth.  (Matthew 5:13). You call us to be "set apart." (Romans 12:2)

So much worship is mere religion.  Religion that is a following after devotional and ritual observances - Like the religion of the Pharisees,  considered the most religious of their day, and highly respected.  Yet Jesus said of them:  ""Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness" (Matthew 23:27).

Jesus went on to say:

"'This people honors me with their lips,
          but their heart is far from me;
 in vain do they worship me,
           teaching as doctrines the commandments of men"  (Matthew 15:9).

Oh, LORD God. I pray that I not lose sight of Who You truly are - the awesome, holy majestic creator God of all that is!  I pray each day I come to You in all humility that I not end up in empty worship.

"Neither asceticism, nor vigils
Nor any manner of suffering can save,
Only genuine,humility will serve."
                    -Mother Theodora of Egypt
                      (C. 340-c. 410)
                     From Love's Immensity by Scott Cairns

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Song of Songs!

Reading:  Song of Solomon
My Verse:  "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh".(Genesis 2:24).

The Song of Solomon is such a beautiful piece and yet is viewed in so many different ways.  I like how the ESV Bible provides what they call a "reading strategy."  They (ESV  bible) shows how this song portrays the beauty and goodness of  marital love.  It is the Song of Songs!

The Song of Solomon is considered a part of the wisdom literature of the Bible. The purpose of wisdom literature is to  reveal how  "the redemptive covenants restore fallen, damaged creatures (mankind) to the proper functioning of their humanity. Therefore obedience to the Lord’s commands is the right way to enjoy the world God made, and displays to the rest of the world how refreshingly attractive it is to know the true God. The picture of the two lovers in the Song of Solomon is an ideal one . . . the picture provides the pattern into which God wishes to shape his faithful people."  I especially like how the ESV Study Bible  points out that this is the pattern "toward which they(followers of Christ) will freely give themselves to be shaped."  Finally it goes on to say, "Indeed, one function of wisdom literature is to make that pattern attractive, as the Song of Solomon does in full measure.” So beautiful!

The two main themes of the Song of  Solomon are sexual purity and loyalty and commitment in marriage.  These themes also beautifully  portray  aspects of our relationship with you, LORD God.

The Amplified Bible puts forth some wonderful questions that challenge us to examine this relationship.

“Does my spirit crave the Divine Shepherd, even in the presence of the best that the world can offer me?” (1:7)

“Do I have a constant sense of my Shepherd’s presence, regardless of my surroundings?" (2:6)

"Do I take time to meet my Good Shepherd each day, letting Him tell me of His love, and cheering His heart with my interest in Him?" (2:13)

"Do I realize that my voice lifted in praise and song is sweet to Him, or do I withhold it?" (2:14)

"What is my greatest concern, the thing about which most of all I want Christ’s help. When He asks to hear my voice, what do I tell Him?" (2:15)

“In my weariness from earthly cares, do I hesitate to answer when the Divine Shepherd knocks at my door, and so turn Him from me? (5:3)

"Is my Savior unquestionably the One altogether lovely, the One above all others most precious to me? Can I tell how and why Christ is more to me than any human being or than all earthly possessions?” (5:16)

Thank You, LORD God, for this most beautiful Song of Songs!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

The End Of The Matter!

Reading:  Ecclesiastes 9 - 12
My Verse:  "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, with every secret thing whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13,14).

Often while reading Ecclesiasties I find myself feeling discouraged, then I realize it is  Solomon's emotion coming through with which I am empathizing.  Yes, he may have been the wisest man ever but there is such sorrow, a realization that he missed the mark by pursuing the wrong thing.  You, LORD God truly blessed him, he could have had an amazing life but slowly he squandered it.  In the end all he could say was "All is vanity."

Heard a great sermon last Sunday that spoke of "The Permanent Record."  The speaker started off with secrets that we all keep.  He was at a conference of army chaplains. The leader asked everyone to write down all their secrets.  The leader then read them out loud. This speaker said it was shocking what the chaplains wrote - lying, cheating, pornography, adultery . . .  He then spoke of a rather funny thing that all those of a certain age remember - that is the threat held over students heads about misbehavior getting put into "the permanent record."  Of course we all came to realize there is no such thing in school records and yet it was something that kept many from doing something they would later regret.  There isn't that in our lives today.  People do many awful things in secret - thinking no one knows.

But, in the end of all things "God will bring every deed into judgement, with every secret thing, whether good or evil."

The speaker posed the question, "So is there a permanent record?"

A careful reading of the Bible shows that there is.  You, LORD God tell us many times that all will be known in the end.

"The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man" (Psalm 33:13).

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:13).

"Does He not see my ways and count my every step?" (Job 31:4).

"The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good" (Proverbs 15:3).

"My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes" (Jeremiah 16:17).

Oh, LORD God, the idea of the permanent record actually had a biblical base!  Because of our sinful nature we need to know that there is a permanent record of what we do - whether evil or good.

But most wonderful of all is that You do not keep those accounts against us if we confess our sin.  You forgive us our sins and blot them out!  (Isaiah 43:5).

It is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we have forgiveness.  For only the blood of Jesus can wipe away our  sin.  It is only in and through Christ  "in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians:1:14).

Thank You, LORD God, for this amazing grace!  In the end of the matter we can truly be free of those sins that can bind us - that awful permanent record of our sin.  Praise You, LORD God for Your unending love and mercy!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Man Cannot Know God's Ways

Man Cannot Know God's Ways

Reading:  Ecclesiasties 5 - 8
My Verse:  "Then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out" (Ecclesiastes 8:17).

This follows my last blog about curiosity. You, LORD God,  placed in us an insatiable need to know about our world.  However try as we might we will never understand all that You do under the sun; the how or why of it all.

Really this makes perfect sense.  We are limited and so incapable of fully understanding Your ways.  But, also we need to always have something to strive for - something to keep our curiosity piqued.  We are able to make some progress, many "discoveries" are made in science and medicine; still there is so much we do not yet understand.

After You, LORD God,  created all that is You told man.  "And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."  (Genesis 1:28). It seems You, LORD God, gave mankind carte blanche with the world.  This would have been ok but for the fact of sin entering in, and man's ultimate distortion of everything that is; man's greed and selfishness basically abusing this wonderful command.

Yet, You did give us the world to use for our own purposes.  By telling man to "subdue" the earth, You told us we are to make use of all that is.  But we are to do it in a responsible, wise and respectful way - for it is Your creation after all.  Sadly because of sin, man has done much harm to this beautiful world You made.  By harming the earth we have does much harm to ourselves.  "Because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High" (Psalm 107:11 NIV).

We keep hearing how we need to correct the way we do things before it is too late - before the harm we have done is no longer correctable.  There is now this huge battle between those that believe we must stop all activities that may harm the earth and those that believe the earth is for us to use as per God's command to "subdue" the earth.  As in all things the extremists in both  these camps make all the noise.

I keep coming back to the Garden of Eden.  It is fascinating that You LORD God created such a place for Adam and Eve - a place that was obviously cultivated - worked and cared for by man.
There is something to this - You do want us to "work the earth" but with great care and always to honor You!

Thank You, LORD God, for reminding me of Your Supremacy here on earth.  I cannot help but think that if all the things man did here on earth were done in a way that was respectful and honorable to You, we would not have all the problems we do today.

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them"  (Ephesians 2:10 ESV).

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!