For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Mark 3
This Sabbath healing story is a great example of how the Jewish religious leaders served the Law rather than God. The purpose of the Sabbath is for us to receive God’s rest and to pass it on to others. Jesus chose to give the man in the synagogue rest from his shriveled hand. He was obeying God’s Law to do good. The religious leaders, on the other hand, were using the law to plot harm. Thus, this story is also a great example of how we recognize evil by its fruit.
Jer. 29-30
“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jer. 29:11). I hear this verse a lot. This morning, I couldn’t help but connect it to yesterday’s Psalm, where it mentioned that God will keep us from harm. I bet the exiled Israelites were questioning God’s definition of help and protection, just as I sometimes do. But it got me to thinking.
I have said before that human nature is bent toward death and destruction. Isn’t that the very definition of harm? The path we follow when we go our own way leads us straight into its mouth. So when God’s word says that He will keep us from harm, I can read that to mean that He turns us away from the destruction that is otherwise our fate. Whether we suffer the hard consequences of our poor decisions, as the Israelites did, or we suffer through no fault of our own, as Job did, we can know that it is all part of God’s plan to put and keep us on His path to life. That is the path that gives us hope and a future and keeps us from harm, both now and for eternity.