Category: Year C

Isaiah 43:1-7

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            There are times when our souls can become parched and dry, times when it seems no one quite understands, and as if circumstances might overwhelm the spirit.  The best remedy to such times is to fill oneself full of God, his grace and love.  Today’s Old Testament lesson is the perfect prescription for those passing through difficulty and/or wondering what lies ahead, fearful of the future.  As I do often, here is my translation and interpretation of this encouraging passage of Holy Scripture; may it fortify your soul today and lead you through the sticking points of life:
 
Now listen up to what the LORD says, the One who created you and formed you:
“Don’t be afraid, because I’m the God who has bought you from the auction block with the ultimate price;
            I have called you by name, and you are now mine.
When you are in water over your head, I want you to know that I will be with you;
            and when it seems like you are drowning, please understand that I’ve got you;
when you walk through fiery trials, I want you to know that you will not be burned,
            and the circumstance will not consume you and burn you out.
This will all be true because I am the LORD your God,
            the Holy One, your Savior.
I put everyone around you in their place,
            and there is no one who is in a position to buy you back from me.
Because you are infinitely precious in my eyes,
            and honored, and I love you,
there is nothing I would not give for you,
            nothing I would not do to keep you with me.
Don’t be afraid, because I am with you always;
            I will gather all my children from the east and from the west,
            so that you will never be alone on this earth.
In fact, I will command all the ends of this planet of yours
            to not withhold, to bring together every son and daughter from the farthest reaches,
everyone who is called by my name,
            whom I created for my glory,
            whom I formed and made.
You are all in this life together,
            and I, the LORD, am watching over each and every one of you. 

 

Bank on it.”

Leviticus 25:1-19

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            If we simply drive our cars with never an oil change, the engine will eventually seize and die.  And if we insist on driving our lives with constant work and never engage in Sabbath rest, we will inevitably burn-out and kill ourselves.  Yet, this is what far too many persons are doing today.  We are putting the pedal-to-the-metal in our lives with no thought to any kind of Sabbath rest.  We are slowly draining our souls, causing ourselves physical harm, and are on the precipice of spiritual death.
 
            Perhaps you think I am being too dramatic?  You might think so if you have never read biblical verses like today’s Old Testament lesson.  But if we take the Scripture seriously we will see that all of life is to be governed by a rhythm of life.  Yes, we are not under Israelite law.  However, every law in the Old Testament is grounded in the person of God himself.  This means we may not be obliged to hold to the detailed specifics of the seven years system and a year of Jubilee, but we are still beholden to observe a Sabbath rhythm of rest because God rested.  Just as God loves and God is holy, we are to love and be holy as he is holy.  The same holds true for Sabbath.  Just as God rested from all his work, we are to rest from our work.  If I haven’t been explicit enough, I will say it plainly:  we are commanded to rest!
 
            It is high time we begin building into our weekly planners, smartphone calendars, and long-range goals an inclusion of Sabbath rest.  That means not just doing it once-in-a-while if I can fit it in somewhere, but making it a real actual event on a regular basis in your life.  No excuses, no fudging of appointments, and no lame sighs about how we are so busy.  Set aside some time today to build Sabbath into your schedule for the rest of the year, and maybe beyond.  I’m not saying this is easy; in fact, it is terribly hard for me to get this practice into my own life.  But without it I am less of a husband, father, grandfather, and pastor.  The people in my life deserve better than that.
 

 

            Gracious God, you created the world in six days and rested on the seventh.  Help me not to put Sabbath on some wish list of things to do someday, but enable me to practice it with courage and without apology.  Through the name of Jesus, I live and pray.  Amen.

Luke 15:1-10

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Lost people matter to God.  They matter so much to him that one lost soul found is the grounds for a big celestial party.  Please note this observation of the text:  if there is rejoicing in the presence of angels over one sinner who repents, then who is doing the rejoicing?  God!  He is absolutely giddy with joy over a lost person being found.  These parables of Jesus are meant primarily to give us a glimpse of God’s own heart.  He would do anything to find a lost person, to restore and reconcile a person back to himself.  God would go dumpster diving and wade through the stinky nasty garbage to find that one lost valuable person.
 
            Why should reaching others for Jesus Christ be a high priority?  Because restoring lost people is a high priority to God.  Lost people matter to him.  They matter so much to him that he sent his Son, the Lord Jesus, to this earth.  Jesus paid the ultimate price of a cruel death on a cross in order to reconcile a broken lost relationship between people and God.
 
            I still remember what it felt like to be separated from God, and estranged from the church – it was lonely and awful, like being in a deep black hole with no way of getting out and no one around to help.  But God, in his great mercy, sent people into my life to share the message of salvation with me.  In leaving the ninety-nine and going after the one sheep, God gave preferential attention to the lost.  Can you live with that?  I sure can, because I was once that one lost sheep.
 

 

            Jesus, you are the Good Shepherd.  Thank you for going after me when I was lost.  Help me to remember that you will often leave to go after others.  I’ll go with you when you do.  Let’s take the Spirit with us.  Amen.

Psalm 32

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment


             “Because I kept silent, my bones wasted away; I groaned all day long.”  There is perhaps no better description of depression than this statement by David in the midst of his emotional pain.  David had every reason to feel deeply about the circumstances of his life.  He had been both victim and perpetrator in all kinds of very troubling situations.  But, as a leader, he kept the stiff-upper-lip of stubbornly holding everything inside.  In fact, the word “depression” literally means to depress the emotions and keep them tightly held within and not allowing them to see the light of day.
             There was a time in my past in which I was so good at stuffing my feelings that one night when our neighbor had a blow-out of a party at 2 in the morning, I actually felt no anger.  Just so you know:  that’s not healthy.  I had an anger problem.  Not the kind where you explode, but just the opposite – the kind where you stuff every negative feeling in the book.
          Recovery for me meant first recognizing that I had a lot to be angry about.  Next, I began to let myself feel the past situations of my life, and I need to tell you that what was inside me wasn’t at all pretty.  Like a wound that needs peroxide, dealing with depression hurt like hell.  But I couldn’t heal without it.  I couldn’t go around it, or avoid it; I had to go through it.  Finally, I learned to not only identify my feelings, but to take charge of them.  I discovered I could choose to say how I feel without apology, and I could say it all in a way that helped others, as well as myself.  Like David of old, I had to get what was inside on the outside.
Gracious God, your stamp of approval is on the penitent – those who are brutally honest with the inner self and receive your mercy.  I will not keep silent.  I will declare to you the current state of my life and not run away from the ugliness within.  Through the gracious Name of Jesus I pray with thanksgiving.  Amen.