Luke 13

I'm so glad to be caught up with my reading. Playing catch up is never easy. However, if there was ever a chapter I'm excited to begin writing about again it is Luke 13. There so much that can be said about this chapter. It has a little bit of everything: Jesus going against the religious elite, some beautiful descriptions of the Kingdom of God, and a great challenge to believers.

Currently, one of my favorite verses in the New Testament is Luke 13:24 where Jesus states (according to the NIV), "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." Those who know me well, might be caught off guard, because most of my "favorite verses" are passages about God's radical compassion, love, and descriptions of the Kingdom of God. However, this one really stands out to me namely because of how badly the NIV gets it wrong.

Where the NIV uses the phrases "make every effort" and "will try," the greek terminology here is actuallymuch more graphic in nature. The greek words used to make up these phrases can otherwise be translated "agonize over" and "give a little effort" (respectively). With the phrases that the NIV uses, the passage sounds almost like a doubtful mother teaching her child how to use the toilet for the first time.

"Well, Johnny, we'll make an effort to go pee-pee on the potty." "At least you tried to make it."

Instead, the language of the original greek, in my mind, sounds like more like a war-time general commanding his troops in battle.

"You WILL make every effort to get past the enemies defenses!! Others have tried and failed miserably! You will not merely TRY to overcome your enemies, you will AGONIZE over it! It will be the only thing you THINK ABOUT!! You will succeed!!!"

See the difference??

Every time I read this passage I have a little notation in my margin which points out this textual issue and it never fails to catch me off guard and fire me up. So rather than "trying" to be a part of the Kingdom of God, we need to start agonizing over it; placing it at the forefront of our minds. Agonize over the Kingdom of God!!

Ready to Start Again

Alright everyone, I'm finally caught up on my reading and ready to start discussing the readings each day. I can't believe how much a death in the family will take out of you. It's like everything I did wasn't enough to get caught up (I'm referring to more than just the reading through the NT in a year plan). But, I think I'm all caught up now and starting Monday will be back each day to discuss the reading of the day.

How is your reading plan coming? Are you finding it difficult to stay on track or not? Any thoughts?

Apologies

Fellow bible readers, please accept my deepest apologies for not posting in nearly two weeks. The death of my grandfather took a lot out of me physically and emotionally, and maintaining a regular posting schedule seemed too much to deal with at the time. I am in the midst of catching up with the reading schedule and will post again soon (hopefully today or tomorrow).

How's your bible reading coming? Any thoughts you'd like to share?

1 Peter

Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading 1 Peter. I often forget how much I love this letter. It's one of my favorites. It is such an encouragement to people suffering and offers a lot to be excited about, even in the midst of the worst persecution.

I love it when Peter writes, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." We are quick to judge, quick to accuse, however, what if rather than jumping down someone's throat when they sin, we showed them the sacrificial love that Jesus showed us on the cross? What if we opened arms of love and compassion to the offender rather than raising fists of wrath?

Its hard to love someone with that kind of love. It makes us vulnerable to being hurt. But, think about how vulnerable God made himself when he sent his Son into the world. People will hurt you because of sin. You will hurt people because of sin. But, if we choose to protect ourselves and not love out of fear of disappointment and pain, we will never know what it's like to be in the beautiful relationship God intended for us to be in with him and with one another.

No matter how much you've read about and studied the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world, you can never know the full impact of that outside of a loving interpersonal relationship with another person. When you know you've done wrong and are completely forgiven for it by someone who loves you, then you've been given a taste of what it means to be forgiven by your creator. When someone else does wrong and you are given an opportunity to forgive that individual out of your unending love for them, then you've been given a taste of what it means to be like Christ and pardon someone.

1 Peter 1

"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

Out of the entire chapter read this morning, this one stuck out to me as quite noteworthy. Not very often does a minister or church leader offer the kind of encouragement to his/her congregation like Peter does here to those reading his letter. And though I don't know everybody who reads this blog, I know most of you are members of ECC, and you're members of ECC because of the scripture noted above. It is so amazing to be able to work with a group of people who, though they've never seen God, have never seen his son, Jesus, truly believe in him and the redemptive power of his death, burial, and resurrection. Take time to consider how amazing it is to be a part of a group that believes in such a thing. There are few words to describe the kind of power there is when a group our size shares such an amazing faith.

James 5

Check out verse 16, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."

Why don't we do this more often? Why do we merely "confess our sins to God," and leave the confessing to one another out of the healing process?

You and I both know the answer, but perhaps we're uncomfortable admitting it. It's because confessing our sins to a God who already knows them is a lot easier than breaking that news to an unsuspecting church. It's difficult to hear each others baggage. It's difficult to get to the place where we trust each other with our deepest darkest secrets.

So, another question: Are we actively pursuing the kind of community that is able and willing to do this? Or are we comfortable with a church that kind of knows everyone. We know each other on the surface level and that's all. It's really difficult and uncomfortable, but it IS the call of God upon his church.

Something to think about...

James 4

"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble...Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will lift you up."

Disappointment, sadness, and guilt, are all feelings we are all too used to. We know we've done wrong. We know we've violated the laws of God. And we know we do not deserve the grace God has promised us through Christ, Jesus.

The good news is, if the above paragraph describes you, you are precisely the person God's grace has been poured out for. However, if you're the kind of person who goes through life justifying your sin, telling yourself you're "not as bad as that person," then you have reason to be worried. The only way you can justify your sin and trust in your own relative goodness is by judging the actions of others. James points out that not only are the proud going to be humbled before the Lord, but those who judge others are in fact judging themselves.

Rather than judging the severity of others sin, consider your own actions and weigh it against the holy law of God. As you discover who you truly are, a lawbreaker, humble yourself before the Lord and seek out his forgiveness for the sin in your life. This is the only hope for salvation any of us have regardless of what we've done or not done.