#dailydevotionals

Start your day with morning coffee and a devotional.

Don’t Be Stupid

Posted on by Betsy

One of the things I encourage all my bible study participants to do is to read a passage in multiple translations. I recently met with a seminary student and made the same suggestion for sermon preparation. Doing this will ensure that your understanding of a passage is expanded. And sometimes, you come up with something quite unexpected!

Our passage from Ephesians today made me laugh out loud when I read it in the Contemporary English Version. I was not expecting to see something as forthright as “don’t be stupid.” As we say in the church, that will preach! How many times have you heard that said in an argument, or as your teenager is leaving the house with your car keys in his hand, or even to yourself as you are contemplating making a questionable choice? “Don’t be stupid” is wisdom for (and from!) the ages.

Paul loved the church in Ephesus, and was constantly praying and advising them in their new life as followers of Jesus. His recommendations in the fifth chapter are as relevant today as they were to the early church:

Ephesians 5 (Contemporary English Version)

15 Act like people with good sense and not like fools. 16 These are evil times, so make every minute count. 

Let’s pause here and consider this. Do you think we are also living in evil times? Sadly, I think the case can be made that we are. This makes the rest of what Paul had to say even more important.

17 Don’t be stupid. Instead, find out what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t destroy yourself by getting drunk, but let the Spirit fill your life. 19 When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart. 20 Always use the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to thank God the Father for everything.

Find out what the Lord wants you to do. That is good advice for us today. What is God calling you to do in this evil time? What is he calling the church to do? Surely our infighting grieves his heart. What would the church look like if we would simply focus on singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and confine ourselves to praising the Lord with all our hearts?

God calls us today to act like people with good sense. That might require change. That might require remaining silent. That might require articulating your position in calm, even tones. Whatever the case may be for you, Paul is right. We need to make every minute count.

So go out and seize the day….and don’t be stupid!

Seize the Day by Michelle Robertson

Wisdom Seekers

Posted on by Betsy

If God appeared to you in a dream tonight and offered you ANYTHING you desired, what would you ask for? Would it be wealth? Status? Long life? Good health? The end of the pandemic? So many choices!

Solomon became king of Israel after the death of his father David, and this happened to him one night. Can you guess what he asked for?

1 Kings 3 (Common English Bible)

3 Now Solomon loved the Lord by walking in the laws of his father David, with the exception that he also sacrificed and burned incense at the shrines.

4 The king went to the great shrine at Gibeon in order to sacrifice there. He used to offer a thousand entirely burned offerings on that altar. 5 The Lord appeared to Solomon at Gibeon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask whatever you wish, and I’ll give it to you.”

6 Solomon responded, “You showed so much kindness to your servant my father David when he walked before you in truth, righteousness, and with a heart true to you. You’ve kept this great loyalty and kindness for him and have now given him a son to sit on his throne. 7 And now, Lord my God, you have made me, your servant, king in my father David’s place. But I’m young and inexperienced. I know next to nothing. 8 But I’m here, your servant, in the middle of the people you have chosen, a large population that can’t be numbered or counted due to its vast size. 9 Please give your servant a discerning mind in order to govern your people and to distinguish good from evil, because no one is able to govern this important people of yours without your help.”

When you think about it, it takes a smart guy to request to become a smart guy…kind of like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. His request was for a brain, yet all along the journey to Oz, he was the one who figured things out for the group. Perhaps his wisdom was evidenced by the fact that he knew his limitations and asked for help.

Merriam-Webster defines wisdom as “having the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships; having insight and good sense; and having good judgment.” These are not only important qualities for a king, but for us peasants, too.

10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had made this request. 11 God said to him, “Because you have asked for this instead of requesting long life, wealth, or victory over your enemies—asking for discernment so as to acquire good judgment— 12 I will now do just what you said. Look, I hereby give you a wise and understanding mind. There has been no one like you before now, nor will there be anyone like you afterward. 

This is a good reminder to us today that discernment and good judgment are precious to God. We are correct in asking for wisdom and doing the things necessary every day to obtain it. When we study, question, LISTEN, and open ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we are wisdom-seekers who will be rewarded with God’s instruction.

13 I now also give you what you didn’t ask for: wealth and fame. There won’t be a king like you as long as you live. 14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my laws and commands, just as your father David did, then I will give you a very long life.”

Solomon’s wisdom-seeking resulted in receiving much more than wisdom. When we seek to be wise, God will also reward us with the wealth of a deeper relationship with him. And look at you, reading daily devotionals! May God grant us his wisdom and discernment for our efforts. Good on us!

Walk in the Light of God’s Wisdom by Kathy Schumacher

Impoverished Confusion

Posted on by Betsy

What do you do when you feel very frustrated with the plethora of misinformation that has flooded our world? I have tried to turn a blind eye to the ridiculous, harmful, and devastating stream of lies, innuendo, and manipulation that is coming from institutions and media outlets that were designed to protect and serve the people. Truth is hard to find. “Both sides” are guilty of pushing agendas that serve only themselves. I don’t know about you, but I have had enough. Staying off social media and not turning on the news helps a little, but it is not enough.

Case in point: a friend who is a local school teacher recently attended a school board meeting that was called to decide about student mask-wearing in the public schools. The debate went back and forth quite loudly and in the end, it was decided that it would be the “parents’ choice.” On the way out, my friend, who chose to wear a mask to this meeting, was likened to being a Nazi by a parent…for exercising his personal right to chose…which is what the parents were demanding.

Where is the truth? Where is humility? Where is respect?

Where is wisdom?

Our lectionary this week addresses the subject of wisdom. As we pursue this topic, we are treated to a short passage from Proverbs on the subject. It is a somewhat fanciful account of “Lady Wisdom” inviting those who are struggling with “impoverished confusion” to come into her home for a special banquet meal:

Proverbs 9 (The Message)

1-6 Lady Wisdom has built and furnished her home;
    it’s supported by seven hewn timbers.
The banquet meal is ready to be served: lamb roasted,
    wine poured out, table set with silver and flowers.
Having dismissed her serving maids,
    Lady Wisdom goes to town, stands in a prominent place,
    and invites everyone within sound of her voice:
“Are you confused about life, don’t know what’s going on?
    Come with me, oh come, have dinner with me!
I’ve prepared a wonderful spread—fresh-baked bread,
    roast lamb, carefully selected wines.
Leave your impoverished confusion and live!
    Walk up the street to a life with meaning.”

I have to say that this brought me up short today. I want nothing to do with the “impoverished confused” at this point. But that is wrong, and not the way God calls us to deal with people. When people are impoverished, they need to be fed the Bread of Life. When people are confused, they need to be taught the Word. This is our job as followers of Jesus.

Scripture always points to the loving inclusion of the Kingdom of God. Lady Wisdom was wise enough to realize that the way to combat those who lack knowledge is to welcome them in, serve them the finest things, and invite them to walk out to a life with meaning….in other words, be patient. Be kind. Be less judgmental and more open to conversation.

This is a hard lesson today. May God grant us grace in our frustrations, wisdom in how to deal with things, and may he bring the Truth to bear down on all of us equally.

Help us, Lord.

Let Streams of Mercy Flow by Trish Lawlor

I Hope, Lord

Posted on by Betsy

Waiting and watching. Every parent knows this drill. When your child is ill, teased, bullied, about to make a bad decision, misses the catch that loses the game, etc., that is your job: to wait and watch. Parenting comes with a certain amount of sleepless nights. The bad news is, this is not confined to their early years. I have friends who are preparing to send their kids off to college in the middle of a pandemic. They are walking the kitchen floorboards at 3 AM just like they did when those children were babies. Waiting and watching.

As a world community, we are also waiting and watching. A deadly virus that was supposed to be gone by now has mutated into an even deadlier virus. Hospitals are filling up again and non-COVID cases are having to wait and watch longer than they should due to the overcrowding of COVID patients. A friend’s daughter had to wait for a room for several hours longer than expected after a surgery because of this. Others are being turned away from their local Emergency Rooms for lack of beds.

Waiting and watching.

Psalm 130 is known as a penitential psalm, and is part of a collection of psalms of ascents that were sung by Hebrew pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. It appears in Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant liturgies, and has been set to music by several composers. It is known as a song that is used in times of “communal distress.” How appropriate then, for us to study it today.

Psalm 130 (Common English Bible)

I cry out to you from the depths, Lord—
2 my Lord, listen to my voice!
    Let your ears pay close attention to my request for mercy!
3 If you kept track of sins, Lord—
    my Lord, who would stand a chance?
4 But forgiveness is with you—
    that’s why you are honored.

5 I hope, Lord.
My whole being hopes,
    and I wait for God’s promise.
6 My whole being waits for my Lord—
    more than the night watch waits for morning;
    yes, more than the night watch waits for morning!

7 Israel, wait for the Lord!
    Because faithful love is with the Lord;
    because great redemption is with our God!
8 He is the one who will redeem Israel
    from all its sin.

This is a song that is meant to comfort the discomforted. The beauty of the language of hope overrides the lament about waiting. The psalmist pleads for God to hear his request for mercy, and then reminds God of his forgiving nature. He reminds us that we, too, can wait for God’s promises.

What are you waiting for? What keeps you awake at night? Remember this, as you pace: God’s faithful love will redeem you, and in fact will redeem the world. So take comfort, all who wait. God hears our cries from the depths, and is coming to save us.

Our hope is in you, Lord.

Hope Rises by Michelle Robertson

Bread of Heaven

Posted on by Betsy

How many times during the day do you think about food? I never realized how much food occupies my mind until I had a day when I couldn’t have anything but liquids. A routine medical procedure that required a day of a liquid diet was an eye-opener. I discovered that during my morning run, all I think about in the last mile is what I will make for lunch. In the afternoon, my mind is pre-occupied with dinner plans. Even a late afternoon boat ride was consumed with what kind of drink/snack I would usually be enjoying instead of my can of diet Sprite. Food, glorious food! I even had to avoid Facebook and Twitter, as these are filled with recipe posts and pictures of things I couldn’t eat. When the procedure was finally over, my first thought wasn’t about the results….all I could think about was coffee and a breakfast biscuit. And more coffee.

Jesus probably understood our obsession with food when he proclaimed that he is the bread of life. What better way to demonstrate his supreme importance in our lives than to tap into our most basic need for sustenance:

John 6 (Common English Bible)

35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

What a beautiful image! Jesus is offering himself to us in a way that meets our needs. When he came, people struggled to understand what he was offering. For him to plainly say, “I am the bread of life” was as simple, and yet as profound, as it could be.

41 The Jewish opposition grumbled about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

42 They asked, “Isn’t this Jesus, Joseph’s son, whose mother and father we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

I suppose there will always be naysayers to everything, even the most incredible gift the world could have ever received. Joseph’s son couldn’t really be that special, after all….

43 Jesus responded, “Don’t grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless they are drawn to me by the Father who sent me, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, And they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has listened to the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father. 47 I assure you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life.

Jesus explains exactly what this gift means. It will not only sustain you, it will allow you to be raised up with him on the last day. It is not just manna for one day, it is manna for every day from now through eternity!

It isn’t just bread, it is the bread of LIFE.

49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that whoever eats from it will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

With THIS bread, you will live forever.

How many times have you thought about food today? How many times have you thought about Jesus today? Jesus provides the bread that will never end…a bread that comes down from heaven above. That is worth our consideration.

May we think about God today as many times as we think about food.

Bread of Heaven by Wende Pritchard

Taste and See

Posted on by Betsy

The Food Network has a show where celebrity chefs describe the best thing they ever ate. Could you name just one thing? I couldn’t..there is no way I could decide what one thing was the best. In fact, I would struggle to come up with a list that was limited to the ten best things….there are too many to name. My mother’s chocolate mayonnaise cake made with Hershey’s Cocoa Powder is one of the things at the top. My husband’s Chicken Tiki Masala is up there. And I can still taste the Truffle Aioli Fries with fresh Parmesan curls that I ate at Gordon Ramsey’s BURGR a few years ago. These were shared with friends from Georgia who we ran into quite by accident. Both the meal and the company were satisfying and yummy.

As you can see by these examples, I enjoy things that taste sweet as well as things that are savory. When salty and sweet meet in the same dish, it is pure heaven. Every year I make my staff a Christmas treat that contains peanuts, Chex, M & Ms, pretzels, and cheerios, all mixed together with melted white chocolate. Oh my, yum!

David tapped into our appreciation for things that taste good in the 34th psalm. What is especially interesting about this psalm is that is titled A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. Well, that is quite a story!

This happened when David was fleeing from Saul, who in his own madness was trying to kill David. David fled to the Philistine city of Gath, but of course he found no refuge there. He had to run from Abimelech after pretending to be crazy in order to escape. He found himself in a cave, safe for the moment, thanks to the intervention of God:

Psalm 34 (Common English Bible)

I will bless the Lord at all times;
    his praise will always be in my mouth.
2 I praise the Lord—
    let the suffering listen and rejoice.
3 Magnify the Lord with me!
    Together let us lift his name up high!
4 I sought the Lord and he answered me.
    He delivered me from all my fears.

5 Those who look to God will shine;
    their faces are never ashamed.
6 This suffering person cried out:
    the Lord listened and saved him from every trouble.
7 On every side, the Lord’s messenger protects those who honor God; and he delivers them.


8 Taste and see how good the Lord is!
    The one who takes refuge in him is truly happy!

I like how David used his wits (by feigning being witless) in order to extricate himself from a precarious position. But you do have to question his decision to flee to a Philistine city. Anyone remember that little altercation with a Philistine giant named Goliath? Israelites and Philistines were not natural allies.

His psalm is one of pure joy, however. Having safely reached the other side, he gives God all the glory. His encouragement to us to find refuge in God comes from his own experience of having been in jeopardy and finding protection. He reminds us that God listens to our suffering and saves us from every kind of trouble.

What kind of trouble are you in? Are you struggling with something too personal to share with friends? David reminds us that you don’t have to “go it alone” when you are suffering. He sought the Lord, and the Lord answered him and delivered him from all his fears.

When we call upon God in the midst of a trial, God’s answer will be immediate and sweet. You are never alone.

Oh taste and see how good the Lord is!

Take Refuge by Wende Pritchard

Run For Your Life

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever had to run for your life? I’m guessing that with the exception of the military and first responders, most of us have never been confronted with a situation that was so life-and-death threatening that we literally had to run. I have run for the train, run for an elevator, I have evacuated my home during a Cat 5 hurricane warning, and even run a half marathon. But I consider myself blessed that I have never had to run for my life.

As a child, I had persistent dreams that I was in some life-threatening situation where I had to run, only to discover that my feet were cemented to the street. Have you had that dream? These dreams involved oncoming tornadoes, War of the World alien intruders, or some other terrible thing. When the threat appeared, I would look down at my feet and realize that I was stuck to the ground, unable to flee.

I think that while most of us have probably not been in any physical danger that would cause us to run, some of us may struggle with mental or emotional threats that leave us feeling paralyzed. I know a woman who is so paralyzed by her anxiety and subsequent paranoia that she has retreated to a place on the opposite coast from her family and cannot engage with them. Some fear tells her to keep running from any relationship with them. In her mind, even the smallest interaction would entangle and trap her.

Fears like this are as real to the person as an actual tornado coming down the street.

Our story today involves the great prophet Elijah at a time when he had to run for his life:

1 Kings 19 (Common English Bible)

19 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, how he had killed all Baal’s prophets with the sword. 2 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this message: “May the gods do whatever they want to me if by this time tomorrow I haven’t made your life like the life of one of them.”

3 Elijah was terrified. He got up and ran for his life. He arrived at Beer-sheba in Judah and left his assistant there. 4 He himself went farther on into the desert a day’s journey. He finally sat down under a solitary broom bush. He longed for his own death: “It’s more than enough, Lord! Take my life because I’m no better than my ancestors.” 5 He lay down and slept under the solitary broom bush.

Elijah did what we need to do when we feel threatened: he got to a safe place and called on the Lord. Even though he felt he was at the end of his life because of the enormity of this threat looming over him, he knew to first call on God.

And God answered:

Then suddenly a messenger tapped him and said to him, “Get up! Eat something!” 6 Elijah opened his eyes and saw flatbread baked on glowing coals and a jar of water right by his head. He ate and drank, and then went back to sleep. 7 The Lord’s messenger returned a second time and tapped him. “Get up!” the messenger said. “Eat something, because you have a difficult road ahead of you.” 8 Elijah got up, ate and drank, and went refreshed by that food for forty days and nights until he arrived at Horeb, God’s mountain. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

This story is a beautiful reminder that whenever we feel so threatened that we have to run, God is always there to provide safety, sustenance, and strength for the journey. Elijah received the ministrations of an angel and was given fresh baked flatbread and water…twice. God will provide what we need even in the worst circumstance if we remember to run toward him as we run away from the threat.

Are you running away from something? What are you running toward? When real threats come into your life, safety is the first concern. And remember that God is in every circumstance, running alongside of you until you reach safe harbor.

Safe Harbor by Michelle Robertson

Don’t Pet the Shark

Posted on by Betsy

One of the best things that happens in July is the Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week, where every program is devoted to sharks. Shark movies, shark documentaries, shows that explore how sharks react in certain situations, (and the divers demonstrate each one with live sharks….anything for ratings!) shark commercials, shark talk shows…it’s a sharkapalooza.

This year the Outer Banks was treated to a visit by the Shark Week Blimp flying overhead. Just in case you weren’t concerned enough about sharks in the water, now we have one in the sky!

I watched a show where a diver demonstrated where you can touch a shark and where you can’t. (Ummmm….just don’t touch the shark??) Our fascination with sharks fuels this entire industry. Shark attacks are on the rise. Sharks are not our natural predators, but we are increasingly getting into their habitats with disregard to our safety.

Here are a few tips from Shark Week:

If you fall off your paddle board near a shark, don’t thrash around. Stay very still (because that would feel so natural) and ease your way back on the board. Be cool. Betsy’s pro tip: to be even smarter: don’t paddle board in shark-infested water.

Don’t bring your iphone or iWatch into the water. Your electronics attract the sharks and they will approach you to ask to make a phone call or have a selfie taken with you. Betsy’s pro tip: just don’t bring your electronics in the the water, DUH.

If you encounter a shark in the wild, don’t reach out and touch it. If it comes for you anyway, touch it on the top of the snout and gently redirect it. But don’t touch it under the nose, or he will automatically open his jaws and eat you. Betsy’s pro tip: don’t pet the sharks.

Sharks have excellent hearing, but they don’t like heavy metal bands or the sound of a camera flash going off. This was scientifically proven this week. One last pro tip: next time you go surfing, invite Iron Maiden along.

Follow me for more pro tips!

Now while there are no stories in the Bible involving sharks, there is a pretty cool story about a whale and a man named Jonah. Jonah was an Israelite whom God had called to be a prophet. Jonah didn’t want to be a prophet, so he went on a sea cruise instead. God then raised a great storm to get Jonah’s attention. The sailors, realizing that Jonah’s disobedience had caused the storm, threw him overboard to try and save their ship. He was swallowed by a whale and lived for three days inside the creature, after which the fish “vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.” Thankful that his life had been spared, Jonah took up his prophetic mission:

Jonah 3 New International Version (NIV)

Jonah Goes to Nineveh

3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

So here are three lessons from Jonah:

You can run from God, but you can’t hide.

God’s call may be hard, but it may also save lives (including your own).

God is a God of second chances.

Think about that today. Where is God calling you to do something difficult? Are you running? Or maybe you are in a dark fish-belly of disobedience and you’re sick and tired of the smell. Do you need a do-over? We serve a God of second chances. You get to come out and try again, this time with the power of the Holy Spirit helping you to make it.

God’s message to us today is that he is bigger than the shark, bigger than the whale, and bigger than anything this world has thrown at us to keep us down. He is a 24/7 God who is actively working to bring us to wholeness through joyful obedience and second chances.

Rise up, people. Our deliverer is here.

Look UP! By Karen Bacon

Raining Bread

Posted on by Betsy

Do you know someone who is quick to complain about EVERYTHING? People like that can just suck the joy right out of you. Nothing is ever good enough. They’ve had better somewhere else. The food was not hot/cold/fast enough. The movie didn’t speak to me. The sermon was too long/short/dry/humorous. (Some people think you shouldn’t laugh in church. Thank goodness none of them worship in my church!)

Let’s face it. As a people, we can be very hard to please.

God suffered this negative nelly reaction when he rescued the ungrateful Israelites from slavery and hardship in Egypt. After parting the Red Sea so that they could escape to the Promised Land, God got an earful about how they would have rather died in Egypt, where at least their oppressors gave them the occasional sandwich. Their hunger in the desert made them “hangry,” and the complaining began as soon as they arrived. How quickly they forgot their miraculous deliverance!

At first, they took it out on Moses and Aaron. Moses quickly reminded them who it was that had delivered them, and who will continue to provide for them:

Exodus 16 (Common English Bible)

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I’m going to make bread rain down from the sky for you. The people will go out each day and gather just enough for that day. In this way, I’ll test them to see whether or not they follow my Instruction. 5 On the sixth day, when they measure out what they have collected, it will be twice as much as they collected on other days.” 

6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you will see the Lord’s glorious presence, because your complaints against the Lord have been heard. Who are we? Why blame us?” 8 Moses continued, “The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning because the Lord heard the complaints you made against him. Who are we? Your complaints aren’t against us but against the Lord.”

God had devised a plan to not only feed them, but to teach them to listen to his commands and trust that he would provide. By instructing them to gather only enough bread for one day at a time, they would be trained to realize that they could count on God to “give us this day our daily bread.”

We need that kind of instruction, too. We so often want to be self-reliant. God wants us to be God-reliant.

9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole Israelite community, ‘Come near to the Lord, because he’s heard your complaints.’” 10 As Aaron spoke to the whole Israelite community, they turned to look toward the desert, and just then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

As if on cue, the glorious presence of the Lord appeared in the cloud. Maybe the people could see it more clearly because they were looking up instead of being cast down and focusing on all their troubles. Too much navel-gazing isn’t healthy for anyone.

11 The Lord spoke to Moses, 12 “I’ve heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat. And in the morning you will have your fill of bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

The scripture calls into question our own response to God. When things go wrong, do we remember the many times he has delivered us from trouble? Or do we focus on the new problem that has raised its ugly head?

Do you trust God to deliver you?

Manna comes in many ways. God even provided a double portion on the sixth day so that they could rest on the sabbath. By looking for his manna in unexpected places, we open ourselves to God’s initiative in our situation. Look around you. Look UP. The Bread of Life is present in every situation, no matter how deep your troubles are.

Then you will know that he is the Lord your God.

The Lord Appeared in a Cloud by Michelle Robertson

The Truth Hurts

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever been called out for something you did wrong? Has anyone confronted you with the truth about your actions and caused you to feel shame and remorse? I am sure that we have all had that moment. I know I have. When we are held accountable for our sins, especially when this accountability comes from a friend, it is a very painful way to have to own up to our bad behavior. The truth hurts.

Our scripture today comes from 2 Samuel, when King David had Uriah the Hittite sent to the front line of battle in order for him to be killed. David seduced and impregnated Uriah’s wife, and after a failed attempt to cover up his misdeed, he resorted to plotting murder against Uriah. David then took Uriah’s wife for his own. He thought he had gotten away with it.

Then he got caught by his good friend Nathan:

2 Samuel (The Message)

12 1-3 But God was not at all pleased with what David had done, and sent Nathan to David. Nathan said to him, “There were two men in the same city—one rich, the other poor. The rich man had huge flocks of sheep, herds of cattle. The poor man had nothing but one little female lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up with him and his children as a member of the family. It ate off his plate and drank from his cup and slept on his bed. It was like a daughter to him.

4 “One day a traveler dropped in on the rich man. He was too stingy to take an animal from his own herds or flocks to make a meal for his visitor, so he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared a meal to set before his guest.”

5-6 David exploded in anger. “As surely as God lives,” he said to Nathan, “the man who did this ought to be lynched! He must repay for the lamb four times over for his crime and his stinginess!”

How quickly David screams for accountability! Yet he doth protest too much. It is interesting to see how easily David could spot the splinter in the traveler’s eye whilst having to look around the ginormous log that was lodged in his own. It is a common thing for guilty people to quickly deflect responsibility to others and point a finger away from their own behavior.

7-12 “You’re the man!” said Nathan.

You are the man. You are the guilty one, David, and God will surely deal with you in his own way. In the end, the truth always comes out, and David indeed was punished.

We are in the midst of the investigation of the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6th here in America Two Capitol police officers and two Metropolitan police officers gave their testimonies yesterday. These brave men in blue put their bodies on the line to protect and serve the men and women working in the Capitol building that day. Without a thought to their own safety, they did their job of protecting people against a violent insurrection.

Listen closely to their testimonies. Watch the evidence of their body cameras. It will break your heart. The truth of what they went through is so painful, it will make you want to turn away. Don’t turn away. They deserve our respect and our prayers for the continuing healing of their bodies, minds, and spirits.

Those who raised fists, used tasers, destroyed property, deployed tear gas and bear spray, bashed bones with baseball bats, flag poles, and pieces of furniture, etc. must be held accountable. Those who yelled, “Kill him with his own gun” must be held accountable. Those who facilitated this horrific event must be held accountable.

The truth is often hard to hear and harder to see. May God grant us clarity as we discover the uncomfortable truths. And God bless those officers who took the brunt for many people who remain ungrateful.

May the truth set them, and us, free.

The Truth Will Set Us Free by Michelle Robertson