July 19

Today's Reading

1 Chronicles: this description of the final days of David's reign is a wonderful climax to his story. He instructed his son Solomon to seek the Lord, gave him details about the construction of the Temple, then led the way in giving to pay for it. What a word picture!

Romans: I thank God for the day when He began to wake me up to the depths of my sin. Only then could I begin to realize the greater depths of His love and grace. He loved me as a sinner, not as someone who had cleaned up my act enough to deserve Him. Now, from the deepest part of my heart, I want to know Him and serve Him. It is the natural response to His great love.

There is, I think, a very important verse in today's passage. I was a young pastor when I was asked why we believe that tiny children haven't reached an "age of accountability" for their sins. I wondered what Scripture we used to back it up. I called a Bible professor whom I knew (perhaps the most learned Bible Scholar I ever knew) and asked him. He wasn't sure of the answer. Then one day I was reading in Romans 5 and came upon verse 13, which says, "...it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break." I asked my professor friend if he thought this could be the answer -- little kids (and some others who have certain mental challenges) can't understand that they have broken God's law until they reach a certain maturity. Only then are they held accountable for their sins. My professor friend agreed with my interpretation and I have found no other verse that so clearly states our "age of accountability" belief.

Psalms: for you and me, worship in God's sanctuary means having intimate heart-communion with Him. Notice the list of attitudes and actions that will keep us from such intimacy. Also, verse 3 says "...speak evil of their friends." An more literal translation says, "take up a reproach against". I like that because it can be taken two ways. Reproaching (speaking evil of) our friends will short-circuit our communion with God. However, we can also squeeze God out by picking up the reproaches others make against our friends. God never gives you the grace to handle my reproaches, but He gives that grace to me! If you grab hold of my offenses and get angry at the offenders, you will lose communion with God because of your bitterness.

Proverbs: an angry person is no fun to be around, but we do them no good by rescuing them from the results of their anger. If we let them face those results, perhaps they will be broken and let God change their heart.

Whew! That's a bunch. What do you see today?