Author: Dave Dishman (Page 24 of 390)

Last night my wife and I dropped by the grocery store to stock up after a long trip. I walked past a line of cars in the drive-through for the pharmacy attached to the store. Another pharmacy sits across the road and always features lines inside and out. Then I realized two more busy pharmacies lie within a mile radius. Lots of us fill lots of prescriptions to cure our many maladies.

Isaiah the prophet delivered a prescription to the people of Israel. Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

Despite their hardened hearts, if these men and women filled this prescription the Lord promised though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…if you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.

Most of us fill our prescriptions and take our medicines religiously. We desire good health. The same applies to the soundness of our souls. The Scriptures lay out prescriptions for vigor, for robust living. Learn to do right and change your life.

Take the Bible’s prescriptions seriously, and begin to experience the Great Physician working within the ailing areas of your immortal being.

Isaiah 1 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Laurynas Me

Jesus constantly faced opponents looking to catch him in a contradiction or inconsistency. One day after a bout with one group another gang showed up. When the Pharisees heard that he silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?

Jesus replied, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Then he added, A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus quieted this fresh group of skeptics by answering a question designed to frustrate him. Constantly probed and goaded, Jesus extended his wisdom not only to his followers, but to those out to do him harm.

Jesus put up with a lot of grief. He answered trick questions about taxes and marriage and the Scriptures, doing so with calmness and good humor. Today while many mock Jesus and ignore his teachings, Jesus remains patient. He wants none to perish, but all to turn to him.

Patience is a virtue, and Jesus exemplifies it at its best.

Matthew 22 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Clément Falize

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey amidst cheering crowds. He cleaned out the Temple in dramatic fashion, then healed every blind or lame person who came to him. Even children flocked around him shouting Praise God for the Son of David!

The leading priests and teachers of religious law watched bodies put right and heard the squeals of children. Despite the joy and miracles, they grew indignant. They soon turned the crowds against Jesus and led him to the cross.

In my experience, the Lord works in imperceptible ways. Quietly, over time, he forms our souls. But sometimes God breaks out. When this happens jealously has no place. Rather it’s time to laugh like children and leap like the lame for joy.

Because when God works in plain sight, for us or for others, it’s worth enjoying.

Matthew 21 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo from the Camino de Santiago 2024

Injustice never fades. Not just a 21st century problem, men and women continually beat back corruption in one area to face it in another. David lamented about the lack of justice he observed, and he wrote as an all-powerful king:

Justice—do you rulers know the meaning of the word? Do you judge the people fairly? No! You plot injustice in your hearts. You spread violence throughout the land.

The human heart leans into favoritism and selfishness. The scriptures teach that we are born this way, and any amount of time observing our world bears this out. Humankind is not bent towards justice—but God is.

David prays that the Lord would break the fangs of the unjust, and make them like snails that dissolve into slime. The Lords hates injustice, and David weaponized his prayers in light of this truth.

Oppose injustice with eyes wide open, knowing the struggle never ends. But pray like King David for injustice to be avenged, and for the Lord to judge rightly here on this earth.

Psalm 58 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann