Author: Dave Dishman (Page 60 of 390)

My wife and I have closets and drawers that stockpile garments we don’t wear and stuff we don’t use anymore. Once a year or so we sort through this opulence and pull things out to give away. Why not pass along our no longer loved clothes to someone who might enjoy them?

From the very beginning of Israel the Lord commanded his people to give thought to the poor, and leave them a way to survive:

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord you God.

Before church networks and government agencies, the Lord set a plan in place for the less fortunate. Sharing took precedence over hoarding. We help the poor and the immigrant today, based on this philosophy of caring set in place thousands of years ago among a wandering people.

The poor we will always have among us, and we should not forget to help them. If gleaning from my closet is a tiny step in that direction, then it’s worth giving away that cozy sweater ignored on my shelf.

Leviticus 23 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Annie Spratt

Maybe it’s my age, but attitudes towards good and bad, what I consider moral behavior, continue to soften. I suppose these inclinations have always been present, I just see more due to the incredibly connected nature of our world. Social media spreads bad ideas faster than a sneeze.

If one holds that no higher authority exists, then this sliding scale of behavior causes no real problems. The goal in the here and now becomes taking advantage of your placement in this world and getting the things you want. If it’s all up for grabs, then start grabbing.

However, if you claim to believe in God, then behavior becomes an issue. If you’re bold enough to believe in the God of the Bible, you’ve chosen accurate scales. When we read the Bible we discover that God is holy—unbelievably pure, radiant, and set apart. There’s no possible way to meet his standards.

Unless someone meets them for us.

Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

Jesus mediates between the magnificently Holy God and our lack of anything nearing holiness. Jesus saves completely. Fully, nothing left to scrub. In totalis. Our cup runneth over.

Regardless of modern ideas, right and wrong still exist. You and I fail any sort of holiness test. But not to worry, our high priest speaks on our behalf. When it comes to meeting impossible standards, he’s the one we need.

Hebrews 7 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Greg Rosenke

After a day on the lake my brother-in-law and I headed back to pull his boat out of the water. We reached the landing area and waited for another boater who pulled in before us. The owner tied his boat up to shore (a small fishing boat) and walked up to get his truck and trailer. I noticed on the back of his boat a bumper sticker that read Sh*t Happens.

As I bobbed up and down I thought, how ironic if the rope tied to the anchor came loose and his boat floated away? When he franticly realized his boat drifted in the middle of the lake I would have hollered out, Hey buddy, you know what they say—Sh*t Happens! I briefly considered slipping off our boat, swimming to shore and untying his, but before my devious thought took root he was back. Plus he was a big guy.

Without an anchor our boat floats away, and more broadly, our lives as well. But those who follow the ways of Christ tie up securely. In Hebrews we’re encouraged with this statement: We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

The anchor referred to here applies far beyond the spiritual. The follower of Jesus possesses a steady anchor for all of life. Outside influences cannot disturb the firmness of its character. When we flail, our anchor, Jesus Christ himself, remains steadfast and sure.

The bumper sticker on that boat wasn’t wrong. Life is full of unfortunate, unpredictable events. Which clarifies our need for hope, for an anchor that holds firm in the midst of those happenings.

Hebrews 6 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Steve Saunders

You can get better at anything if you practice. Friends of mine practice gardening, always learning and improving their skills at growing flowers and vegetables and fruits. Physicians describe their medical work as a practice, developing an experienced eye in treating health issues over many years of work. Even that dastardly yet magnificent game of golf yields to practice—or so I’m told.

It pays to practice when it comes to the Scriptures as well. The writer of Hebrews chided the church in Rome over their lack of growth: Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!

This group failed to engage with the Scriptures beyond a cursory level. Their shallowness grew evident as the society around them pressed in. They appeared to have trouble with what was good and what was evil, difficulty with right living. They faced persecution, and it eased the pressure to pump the brakes on living by God’s word in their pagan city.

Instead of remaining childish, these young believers were encouraged to further exercise the things they had been taught: Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Constant use refers to training, working out, practicing, meaningful activity guided toward a specific end. By delving into the Scriptures daily, over weeks and months and years, the disciple gains wisdom, a certain gravitas, and more easily avoids the evil laid before them.

No one gains anything from staying in the kiddie pool when it comes to the teachings of the Bible. It pays to practice, be it gardening or medicine or golf—and especially when understanding the Scriptures in order to live as a fully engaged follower of Jesus.

Hebrews 5 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Sandie Clarke