Reading from Thursday, August 5

Good evening. Good evening to you all. I trust you're well.

Reading for August 5
Ezra 1:1-2:70
Nooo!! It looks like Ezra is a continuation of Chronicles. In fact, it picks up right where 2 Chronicles ends. So the King of Persia opens an invitation to any Israelites/Jews who want to participate in the rebuilding of the temple. Many people come to help build, even the neighboring nations pitched in.

The rest of this reading is a list of names and numbers. I thought we were done with all this...

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5
Paul brings up this idea of God's weaknesses. First off, admitting - in an indirect way - that God can sometimes be imperfect, is a pretty bold thing to do. But look what he says:

²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

Which means that all the times I thought I knew better when reading the Bible, and getting angry with God for the decisions he made were completely off. His mistakes are greater than the highest, greatest achievement I could hope for.

Paul then begins talking about we who were called to follow Christ. We the meek and mild:

 ²⁶Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹so that no one may boast before him.

God's desire is for all of us to be equal before him - or at least see ourselves as equals with each other. And if his disciples are humble, honest people, the message they're sharing is going to be as pure as it can be. 

Psalm 27:7-14
I'm blessed with great parents, but maybe someone else could use this encouragement now:

¹⁰ Though my father and mother forsake me,
       the LORD will receive me.

Proverbs 20:22-23
 ²² Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!"
       Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.
 ²³ The LORD detests differing weights,
       and dishonest scales do not please him.

Pretty straightforward stuff there, Sol. 

OK, off to beat Halo...