-For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
2 Cor. 1
“[God] set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Cor. 1:22). What an awesome statement! When we humbly surrender ourselves to God, He paints the blood of His Lamb, Jesus, on the doorposts of our hearts to loudly proclaim, “This one is Mine!” Then He gives us His Spirit – a deposit, Paul says. This deposit guarantees that we will one day dwell in the full presence of God.
Thinking about this, it occurred to me that Jesus’ parable of the ten talents (or minas or bags of gold) seems to apply here. God left us with a deposit; what are we going to do with it? Do we hide it away? Or do we take that deposit and seek to grow it? When we abide in Christ, we tap into the root of God who nourishes His Spirit in us, enabling us to bear fruit for Him with what He deposited in us. The presence of God’s Spirit grows in us and overflows to those around us. Then, not only will we be spared from the death we deserved, but we will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!…Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matt. 25:21a,c).
Judges 13-14
I love Manoah’s response to God here. Hiss barren wife learned that she would have a son who was to be dedicated to God his entire life and whom God would use to deliver Israel from the Philistines. From what I see in Manoah’s response, he didn’t doubt God’s remarkable word. Like many others who received a special calling from God, however, I think he did feel inadequate. Besides the lack of doubt, how he dealt with that feeling of inadequacy is what impressed me. There were no questions or arguments, just a humble request. “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.” (Jud. 13:8).
I love that! Manoah went straight to God, seeking wisdom for the task. He trusted both that God would teach and they would learn. And God honored Manoah’s humble request in true God fashion. He not only sent the ‘man of God’ back, but He “did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched” (Jud. 13:19b). He revealed Himself to them. I’m sure that bolstered their faith and their confidence. May it do likewise for me, as I humbly seek wisdom from God in living this life He has called me to.
Ps. 48
This is a love song for Jerusalem, the place of God’s temple. God’s people (you, his church) are now His temple. Pray this psalm with that in mind. God is worthy of praise in my life. He has shown Himself to be my fortress; my enemies flee from me. God makes me secure forever. I will meditate on His unfailing love and rejoice in His judgments. “For this God is [my] God for ever and ever; He will be [my] guide even to the end.” (Ps 48:14).