August 13

Today's Reading

Nehemiah begins today with what seems to be a parenthetical remark. He speaks of his twelve years as governor. Remember how he had asked the king for permission to go rebuild the wall? Then the king asked him how long it would take and Nehemiah gave him an answer. Nehemiah was a careful leader and a good planner. No doubt he went back to the king after the allotted time and reported what happened. It's obvious that, sometime later, the king extended further trust to Nehemiah and sent him back to Jerusalem as governor.

Meanwhile, back at the wall... Completed in 52 days! So much for, "They said it couldn't be done!" But notice how much opposition they had. Even some of the Jewish leaders were helping the opposition because of inter-marriages. God had warned somewhere about that, hadn't he?

1 Corinthians: it's hard for us to imagine a culture where meat was scarce. We just head to WalMart and buy it to our heart's content. Not so in Corinth 2,000 years ago. Some of the best meat wasn't available in the markets or served in the public places. It was taken to be offered as sacrifices to pagan gods. After it was given as an offering, it was available for sale. Paul's discussion of how to handle this is an example we have used many times in church life today.

Psalms: "In the beginning was the Word..." (John 1:1)

"The Lord merely spoke,
and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
and all the stars were born." Psalm 33:6

That's good enough for me.

Proverbs: evil people desire evil. What do I desire?

How about you?