Reading from Sunday, August 8

Hello friends. How are things? Great - me too.

Reading for August 8
Ezra 7:1-8:20
This is a fairly uneventful reading. It turns out the book of Ezra is named for something - a dude named Ezra. He is a prophet of God who comes to Jerusalem from Babylon to teach the Law of Moses to the people. Artaxerxes, the king who ruled over the Jews is a big fan of Ezra. He writes a letter to the Jews saying that they are all to listen to and obey Ezra in whatever he asks of them.

This is also, I think, the first time a monarchy government has mandated Judaism. Artaxerxes says this in his letter:

²⁶ Whoever does not obey the law of your God and the law of the king must surely be punished by death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.

This is another key difference between the Old and New Testament teachings. In the OT, God's punishment was often carried out by man - or at least what man wanted to believe was God's punishment in some cases; in the NT Paul specifically condemns us taking revenge on each other, saying that is the job of the LORD. But in this case of the Israelites, they could be put to death for not following God's law.

I'm trying to come up with a Better Than Ezra joke, but I couldn't...who's got one for me?

1 Corinthians 4:1-21
Paul often preaches about the idea of not concerning yourself with praise from man, but to be fully concerned with the praise from God. He restates that idea here in these two eloquent verses:

³I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ⁴My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.

I like the idea of my conscience being clear, but still being guilty. It's being fully aware of the forgiveness and grace available to us through Jesus which will clear our conscience, but our sin that makes us guilty. Then again, I don't know if that's such a good thing to have a clear conscience. I mean if you have done something awful, its that stewing-in-you-guilt marinade that keeps you from doing it again - at least that's how it works for me...I don't know...what are your thoughts?

Psalm 30:1-12
Hope.

⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment,
       but his favor lasts a lifetime;
       weeping may remain for a night,
       but rejoicing comes in the morning.

This is so hopeful. Especially for those going through some tough situations, it provides a promise that better times are coming.

Proverbs 20:28-30
 ²⁸ Love and faithfulness keep a king safe;
       through love his throne is made secure.
 ²⁹ The glory of young men is their strength,
       gray hair the splendor of the old.
 ³⁰ Blows and wounds cleanse away evil,
       and beatings purge the inmost being.

And, goodnight.