June 15

Today's Reading

1 Kings. For new readers of these passages, you may be surprised at how quickly we go through the lives of many kings in the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. I suggest you notice the way that some of the kings were primarily good and others most evil. Even so, the nation moved continually farther from God.

Acts. It was a centurion who said to Jesus, "Speak the word only and my servant will be healed, for I, too, am a man under authority..." This was a different centurion who was seeking the truth for his life. Far from the politics and pageantry of Rome, he was trying to get his life together. God's Spirit was drawing him! In the meantime, God was preparing Peter for this encounter with a Gentile seeker. Notice the words: "Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean." When we repent of sins and ask God to cleanse us, He does it! It is unbelief when we refuse to consider ourselves cleansed after that.

Psalms. I used to hear the saying, "Everybody wants to be 'one' but we can't decide which one of us we're going to be." Harmony is much different than unison. Dwelling together in harmony means that we all bring our best to the Body of Christ and share it selflessly. We each understand that we are but one part of the Body and must work together harmoniously with the other parts. That's precious to God!

Proverbs. Both these verses seem a little strange to me, especially the second one. The second one seems to commend bribing. I wonder if it is really more of a life observation that people who pay bribes often get their way.

Your thoughts today? What are your questions?