Morning Musing: Psalm 119:9

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“How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping your word.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What’s the secret to the good life? That’s something we all wonder about from time to time. We may not ask it out loud, but it’s rumbling around in our heart and mind. We do the things we do because we believe those actions will lead us to life and flourishing. But inside we wonder: Are these the things that will get us there? Well, while the Scriptures were not written specifically to answer that question, if we pay close attention, sometimes—like right here—they give us a pretty good clue to the answer.

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Digging in Deeper: Jude 1:17-18

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But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you, “In the end time there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

If you ever want to feel accomplished in reading the Bible, start with a book like Obadiah or Philemon or Jude here. You may not understand all (or even most) of what you’re seeing, but you can finish the whole book in a few minutes. Then you can say, “Why, yes, I have read whole books of the Bible before.” And when you do, you’ll come across some gems like this one. So…what does it mean?

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Morning Musing: Malachi 2:10

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It’s vacation week! Blogs will keep appearing this week, but the audio recordings may not. Things will be back up and running like normal starting next week.

“Don’t all of us have one Father? Didn’t one God create us? Why then do we act treacherously against one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?” (CSB – Read the chapter)

As the prophet Malachi was offering various warnings to the people of Israel to get back on track with God, he took a minute to remind them of who they were. He reminded them of the common heritage they all shared. Although this reminder wasn’t aimed at us, the spirit behind it is still very much relevant today. It is relevant for our nation. It is relevant for the church. Let’s talk about why this morning.

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Digging in Deeper: Malachi 1:2-3a

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“I have loved you,” says the Lord. Yet you ask, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Even so, I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

This morning we ran into this incredibly hard statement on God’s part that He hated someone. Namely, He hated Esau, Jacob’s brother. But, the observation wasn’t specific to just Esau. It included the entire nation of his descendants as well. Fortunately, the way God was using the words “love” and “hate” in Malachi, wasn’t the same as the way we often use them today. He simply meant that He chose one over the other. There were no emotions involved. The thing is, even understanding that, this passage is still really hard to accept. Let’s talk about why.

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Morning Musing: Malachi 1:2-3a

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“I have loved you,” says the Lord. Yet you ask, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Even so, I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When God asserted His love for the people of Israel at the beginning of Malachi’s little collection of prophecy, the people whose hearts were hard from years of doing religion without any kind of relationship meaningfully in place, immediately fired back a challenge: “How?” God’s response is, for modern ears, one of the hardest things we find Him saying in the Old Testament. What are we supposed to do with this?

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