August 24
10“A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!
A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed!” (Jeremiah 48:10)
For a moment, I almost left the above verse with just the first sentence. That doesn’t sound too bad. A curse on anyone lazy in doing the Lord’s work. But if I had left out the second sentence, you would not see the full context of what the Lord told Jeremiah in regards to the people of Moab. God tells Jeremiah he is going to destroy the Moabite people (Moabites descended from Lot’s son Moab, and have been a thorn in the Israelites side for generations). The right, charismatic preacher could easily put together a sermon about how we shouldn’t be lazy in doing the Lord’s work! It says it right there in the Bible: Jeremiah 48:10. But on the other side of the coin, another preacher could easily use this same verse to incite violence and bring the “sword” to know bloodshed.
My point is, you have to read the Bible in its entirety so YOU can know the truth from the fake news. We are a week away from completing our eighth month of reading. I hope you have kept up, if not, you can easily push through the last month and finish the year out having read the whole Bible, cover-to-cover, and you will have the knowledge to speak truth to the world around you.
Yesterday I mentioned sharing some of my favorite singles that were released this last week, and the image below will take you to one of my favorites. Staying true to their greatness, Hillsong Worship released a gloriously beautiful song titled “Hope of the Ages,” which features the vocals of Mr. Cody Carnes. From the very first words: “The Gospel of Jesus, is the hope for the ages, burning brighter and brighter,” this one hits pretty deep.
Reading plan: 1 Timothy 5:16-25
Deeper reading plan: Jeremiah 47, 48
Common Sense Reborn 