Author: Dave Dishman (Page 40 of 390)

Civil discourse in this country rarely stays civil. Always brutal, politics now resembles a blood sport. Social media incites mobs. Often without knowing the facts of a situation, the swarm makes a ruling and metes out punishment. All without mercy.

Paul described this situation as a state of people living with corrupted minds:

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.

Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

From two thousand years in the past Paul’s description hits the bulls-eye. In the media and wired realms commentators swiftly run to shed blood, and the phrase no fidelity, no love, no mercy, describes such actions perfectly.

What does a follower of Jesus do in this vicious world? Paul reminds us that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. The gospel brings faith and love and mercy, and the Holy Spirit empowers us to share these with others.

As a believer I choose to give very little time to the media hype going on around me. But I still hope to engage with those people the God puts in my path, and with the Lord’s power I might show them mercy, whether they reciprocate or not.

Romans 1 & 3 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by James Wainscoat

I enjoy biographies of leaders. I just finished listening to one about George Armstrong Custer, a man of low morals and unparalleled battlefield ability (until overwhelmed at Little Bighorn). Leaders carry heavy responsibilities and their decisions, wise or foolish, effect all who fall under the umbrella of their actions.

King David decided to take a census of the nation’s fighting men. While such a count was not wrong in itself, David’s order arose from pride. Even Joab, the leader of the armed forces, objected to this wrong-headed idea. But David insisted and the numbering began.

As a result the Lord punished not just David, but the entire nation. A plague broke out and killed 70,000 people. Broken and mourning, David appealed to God. Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd, have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Lord my God, let your hand fall on me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.

The Lord relented but the lesson burned. Leadership carries broad implications. Thoughtful decisions (or no decision in this case) bless many. Poor ideas broadly implemented create suffering, as David discovered too late.

We’re encouraged to pray for our leaders: I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (1 Timothy 2).

I fail on this account by rarely praying for those in leadership. I lose sight of just how much leaders influence how I live. One clear reason we pray for our leaders—national, statewide, local and at work—is that in praying for our leaders we’re also praying for ourselves.

1 Chronicles 21 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Markus Spiske

We don’t always get what we deserve. Which encourages us to cut corners or take more than our share. When dubious actions are met with indifference, we’re emboldened to push a bit farther. Fudging on a tax form leads to cheating in a business deal. Lifting a few dollars from the petty cash drawer morphs into embezzling company funds.

But while our moves may go unnoticed, we can be assured that no action goes unrewarded. David wrote of the Lord:

To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

The Lord responds appropriately to each of us. Walk with him in humility and enjoy his good hand. Embark on a deceitful path and experience God in a contrasting manner. The Lord does not match a devious life with his own underhanded tactics. Rather, he allows the actions of a conniving person to twist back upon themselves. You might say he gives each of us enough rope to hang ourselves.

And we often do exactly that. King David certainly did. But wonderfully, again like David, we can return in our brokenness and enjoy the appropriate response of a heart soft to the Lord.

2 Samuel 22 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Mahdi Bafande

I have plenty of favorites. Favorite teams, favorite foods (pizza), favorite music and favorite people. I choose my favorites whenever I can. Looking around you might be tempted to say that God plays favorites as well, but the Bible tells us otherwise.

In writing to church members in Rome Paul stressed that God treats both Jews and Gentiles the same. Those who are self-seeking, reject the truth and follow evil reap wrath, anger, trouble and distress. Those who do good find glory, honor and peace—first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.

While that sounds only fair, God’s refusal to play favorites is actually quite extraordinary. No one is born deserving a higher caste, no one buys esteem or inherits it. We gain God’s favor, or his disdain, all on our own.

God favored us with the sacrifice of Jesus. He grace and mercy extends to anyone who accepts it. We are all his favorites, and have to work to lose that status.

Like flowers budding in the spring, Paul’s line—God does not show favoritism—reveals hope. In our world of striving and posturing and playing for the likes, it’s comforting to know God above see through all that. We’re one of his favorites, and we should not be afraid to move toward him.

Romans 2 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Diego Marín