Moving Sale

In fact, we're not quite ready for a moving sale yet.  But I'm going to move the venue for lectionary posts to my other blog at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com rather than here.  It makes more sense to maintain just one blog.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com and http://alex-kirk.blogspot.com

Blog Hiatus

I'll be away from the computer for most of the month of June so will put this blog on hiatus.  May the Lord use us daily to search the Scriptures and see what they say.

Ecclesiastes 11.1-10, John 10.22-42 - Lectionary for 6/3/10

Today's readings are Ecclesiastes 11.1-10 and john 10.22-42.

In Ecclesiastes 11.6 we have a vivid metaphor.  At least for me it is a vivid metaphor.  We sow our seed, we do our work.  We do not know what the outcome will be.  All we do is what the Lord has given us.  In my work as a teacher I see the truth in this verse.  Day after day, year after year, I teach my classes.  I don't know what will come of them.  I don't know what will sink in and what won't.  I have a distinct impression that thirty years from now very few of my students will remember much of the specific data I feed them in class and test them over.  But I know thirty years from now many of my students will be daily using lessons they learned about perseverance, attention to detail, follow-through, and looking at written messages carefully.  Maybe a few of them will be able to construe all the grammar in a Latin sentence.  Maybe not.  But I'll keep sowing my seed.  The Lord will give the increase, and He will bring forth what he wants to bring forth.

May the Lord bless us that we can go around today, doing what he has given us, delighting in the Giver.

Ecclesiastes 10.1-20, John 10.1-21 - Lectionary for 6/2/10

Today's readings are Ecclesiastes 10.1-20 and John 10.1-21.

Ecclesiastes 10.1 (ESV) "Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor."  How much folly do we need?  Not much.  Yet notice how often we try to do a balancing act - a little folly, a little wisdom, a little evil, a little good - let's see if we can make the equation work out.  What we see today is that the world doesn't work that way.  A little folly, a little evil, is plenty to ruin a lot.  It makes great mischief.  So what do we do?  First off, we forget about trying to earn our own merit.  I know that i have plenty of folly, plenty of evil, to cause harm to a great number of people.  I probably have plenty for the whole world, especially if I trust my heart and act on my own inclinations.  No, that won't work, will it.  What does our Lord say?  He says he has appointed an order and that we live within that order.  And what is that order?  The world is evil but Christ has overcome that evil on our behalf.  We live, not by trust in ourselves, but by trust in him.  That's the good order we need.  And in accordance with that good grade, we can live in God's wisdom, God's righteousness, the only wisdom and righteousness that ultimately matter.

May the Lord give us his wisdom and honor.

Ecclesiastes 9.1-17, John 9.24-41 - Lectionary for 6/1/10

Today's readings are Ecclesiastes 9.1-17 and John 9.24-41.

As we read in Ecclesiastes today we see a persuasive argument for the doctrine of vocation.  What is our calling?  It is the situation in which we find ourselves.  Every believer is serving within a divine calling to bring glory to God by loving and serving his neighbor right where he is. 

What of all this talk in Ecclesiastes 9 about life and death?  I'll counter that with another question.  In what way do we love and serve our neighbor if we are dead?  Should we not pour ourselves out in service during this life?  Should we not seek to be a benefit during this life rather than wishing it away to look to eternity?  Should we not dress ourselves, eat, drink, and enjoy the work the Lord has given us right now?  Otherwise we are busy denying that the Lord is the Lord of now.  We relegate him to being only the Lord of the future.

Our Lord is the one who lovingly cares for us right now.  Let us rejoice in him this very day.