September 8

Today's Reading

Isaiah: when was the last time you walk along a beach, looking for seashells? You might pick up a dozen -- or fifty -- before you find one that draws your attention and makes you want to keep it. Reading Isaiah can be like that. His prophesies were written over many, many years. Some of them will mean something this time through. Next time you read, something else will jump out at you. It's worth the discovery. For instance, "18 “Come now, let’s settle this,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool."

2 Corinthians: churches are made up of people. It isn't uncommon for someone to come in and look sharp, then start stealing hearts. People like that can become the church equivalent of Absalom, King David's son, sitting at the gates of Jerusalem and tearing down his father's authority. "My dad doesn't take time to listen to you, but I'm on your side." Then, should he have been allowed to rule, he would have abused them. That's what some were doing in Corinth.

Psalms: David had escaped from King Saul. He sought refuge from the priest, who granted it. Doeg, loyal to Saul, saw it and reported back to the king. Saul ordered the priest killed and Doeg happily obliged. This Psalm was written because of those events.

Proverbs: cosigning is a common way for lending institutions to make it possible for someone to take out a loan when they have no credit. This warning is not to cosign, unless you have the money to pay off the debt for the other person. That's what it will cost you if the other person quits paying. I know. I've been there.

What life lessons are you learning?