Through the Bible in one year - Day 15

50 verses in the 9th chapter of Luke and each of them worthy of long study...Yesterday we talked about authority, the authority of Jesus, and today we see that the opening verses of Luke 9 show Jesus giving authority to his disciples to heal and cast out demons. I have talked at other times about the kindness of Jesus’ charging them not to take anything for their journeys; anyone who has ever packed and moved can understand what I am getting at here. The miracle of feeding the 5,000 is spoken of in other places and gives us a glimpse into the heart of what is important to God, and then we get to the crux of the question today – who do you say that I am? This question was important for the disciples and is important for us each and every day. Who do we say that He is?

The psalmist below writes only a fool says there is no God.

Psalm 14:1

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,

there is none who does good.

In the passage in Genesis today we read of Abram being promised a place to call his own and a place for his descendents, and the promise of those very descendents to come. This is a covenant from God to Abram; Abram does nothing to earn it, but he does believe the promise – and that belief is counted as righteousness. Belief is what we can bring to our life and to the relationship with our God.

Genesis 15:1-6

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." But Abram said, "O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir." And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: "This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir." And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

1 Chronicles 15:12-15

[David] said to them, "You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it. Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule." So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.

Now, we read more about David and specifically about the way in which we are to handle what is holy. In the case of the Ark of the Covenant, we are to follow God’s direction. I think this is an excellent idea for all our life’s actions; follow the Lord’s direction. I do not wish to be a fool, nor do I wish to lapse into unbelief; so even when I do not understand (which is a lot of the time) I will believe in the promises of God.

Today’s readings: Psalm 14, Genesis 15, 1 Chronicles 15:1-16:3, Luke 9:1-50