Digging in Deeper: Micah 6:8

“Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter) 

Have you ever tried to read one of those End User License Agreements you normally just click “accept” and ignore when downloading some program onto your computer? I have. Most are just line after line of legalese that eventually make your eyes go cross. It would be nice if some company would offer a kind of three-point summary of it along with the link to read the full text. EULA’s are bad enough. Have you ever felt that way about the Bible? It sure would be nice to have a summary of all of that, wouldn’t it? 

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Digging in Deeper: Proverbs 24:11-12

“Rescue those being taken off to death, and save those stumbling toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we didn’t know about this,’ won’t he who weighs hearts consider it? Won’t he who protects your life know? Won’t he repay a person according to his work?”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter) 

Have you ever read a verse and felt convicted by it? I’ve spent the past several days reading through Proverbs 24. I initially came to this spot because I caught a verse in another context and wanted to write a note about it. Taking my own advice, I read the whole context. There’s a ton of great stuff in this chapter. And there’s this passage. It’s grabbed my heart and mind and hasn’t let go. If you would, let me explore that with you. 

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Digging in Deeper: Proverbs 24:17-18

“Don’t gloat when your enemy falls, and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, or the Lord will see, be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter) 

It is satisfying to see someone who deserves justice get it. When someone has been wronged, we love to see them get what is right. Conversely, when someone has done something wrong, we love to see them get their due punishment. This is part of what made movies like Home Alone such a hit. A couple of bad guys got what was coming to them in deliciously hilarious fashion. But, while justice delivered is satisfying (and should be so), there’s a line here that we are wise to not cross. 

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Digging in Deeper: Hosea 14:9

“Let whoever is wise understand these things, and whoever is insightful recognize them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter) 

Have you ever tripped over nothing? You were just walking along a totally flat and smooth path and suddenly you were on the ground. I suspect that’s something we’ve all done at least once. For some folks it’s more like a daily affair. I had an old pair of shoes that were tripping hazards. Everywhere I went I tripped. Over nothing. For some reason the toes of those shoes were more attracted to the ground than any other pair I’ve ever owned. I actually adjusted my walking while I wore them to account for the tripping. I wasn’t sad when I wore them out sufficiently to justify getting a new pair. 

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Digging in Deeper: Luke 16:8

“The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light in dealing with their own people.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter) 

As we saw this morning, this parable is another one of those stories of Jesus that start out as we might expect, but then suddenly take a sharp left turn into ground that not only isn’t what we expect, but doesn’t make any sense. If you had only this verse to go on, you might think that the unrighteous manager had done something good. You would be wrong. He cheated his master out of a lot of money (thus his title). So then, what are we supposed to do with this? 

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