January 6 ▪ Day 6

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 3:7–8
Genesis 11–12
Matthew 6
Psalms 6

Verse Focus (Proverbs 3:7–8)

⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes;
     fear the LORD and shun evil.
⁸This will bring health to your body
     and nourishment to your bones.

Meditation

Happy Epiphany (assuming this is January 6th for you). Today is the day the church celebrates the arrival of the wise men before the baby Jesus. May the Holy Spirit bring you epiphanies today as you study the Word!

Proverbs 3:7-8 is like much of the wisdom in the Bible when it tells us to “fear the LORD and shun evil.” This commandment is repeated constantly throughout the Bible. But in verse 8 we are told that having an attitude of humility, fearing God, and shunning wicked ways will actually bring about physical health. Whether this is a mind-body connection that encourages health or whether it is God’s favor on you that bestows health, the point is that what you think and how you behave has an effect on your physical well-being. Although there is more understanding nowadays about how the mind can influence the body, this is still not how our Western culture tends to think things work.

But count on it: if you honor God, you will be healthier in body. This is not to say that you won’t ever experience injury or illness. This is a general principle of how things work in God’s universe, rather than a guarantee of what kind of life you’ll have. This principle is also not magic. If you abuse your body by eating junk food and not getting enough rest or exercise, you’ll reap the consequences of that. However, seeking and honoring God may mean that your spirit gains a renewed desire to do the right things — to start exercising and taking care of yourself.

So in Genesis chapters 11 and 12 today we cover the Tower of Babel, the line of Shem to Abram, God’s call to Abram, and Abram and Sarai in Egypt.

Many of you will probably remember the story of the Tower of Babel from childhood. And one thing the story does is give an explanation of how there came to be so many different languages, especially since the Bible tells us that we are all are descended from Noah. But we’re adults now. So let’s dig a little deeper. What’s with God confusing everyone? Why was it bad for humankind to work together? Isn’t that what we long for today? Unity?

Am I the only one scratching my head wondering why God did this?

So let’s work the problem. From a Christian point of view, we know that God is good and that what He does is for our good. So confusing people and scattering them was actually a good thing. But why?

As I ponder this, it occurs to me that we still have the problem of sin that hasn’t been resolved yet. Christ has not yet come. So most people are wicked. And do we want wicked people to work together so well that they can accomplish whatever they desire? Of course not! Even today, we pray that God will frustrate the plans of the wicked. So separating people is a tactic that is needed until the fullness of time — until Christ comes. Once people are redeemed and have the Spirit living in their hearts — that’s when we want unity to occur. Not before people have God’s Spirit living within them. So I understand a little better what God is doing by introducing many languages. I’ve caught a glimpse of His purposes; although, I’m sure there is far more going on than I can even imagine.

So we get another line of descendants. This time from Noah’s son Shem (from whom all Semites are descended) down to Abram who later became Abraham. We still have some pretty old people here, but gradually the length of life is shortening. And again we see the pattern of Terah having children at a far older age than his ancestors did — just like Noah. Does God have a special empathy for those who for whatever reason don’t have children when young? Is that why they seem to end up favored? Or did they simply have longer to grow to maturity because they didn’t have children when everyone else was having children?

One thing I note is that Terah, Abram’s father, had originally intended to go to Canaan. But he stopped in Haran, and they all stayed there. Did Terah also have a call from God? It’s an interesting speculation, although, of course, the Bible doesn’t say.

Chapter 12 begins with God’s call to Abram. Abram is to leave his country and his people behind and go to the land God will show him; in return, God will make Abram into a great nation and he will be so blessed that eventually Abram will become a blessing to “all peoples on earth.” Now Abram is 75 years old and childless when God calls him. His father Terah is still alive (he lives for 60 more years after Abram leaves). But Abram obeys, and Abram takes his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot (who is like a son to him, since Lot’s father had died many years earlier) and they head off. When they arrive in Canaan, God appears again to Abram and confirms to him that He will give this land to Abram’s descendants.

In chapter 12, there’s another story about how Abram leaves Canaan and heads down to Egypt because of a severe famine. This is setting up the pattern for what will happen many generations down the line. Sarai is taken into Pharaoh’s palace because she is a beautiful woman (and because Abram tells a partial truth about their relationship, fearing that he might be killed if it was known that Sarai was his wife). Abram receives considerable wealth from Pharaoh because of Sarai, but God afflicts Pharaoh’s household with “serious diseases” because of Sarai’s presence. Eventually the truth comes out and Pharaoh kicks Abram out of Egypt — Abram take his wife, his many possessions, and they leave. Again, this foreshadows what will happen in the Exodus, still more than 400 years away.

In Matthew chapter 6, as Jesus continues his Sermon on the Mount, we learn the dangers of desiring praise from men over praise from God. In fact, Jesus tells us that those who make a show of praying or giving or fasting have already received their “reward” for these actions in whatever public notice or attention they have managed to garner. That makes their actions very hollow; there is no other benefit to what they’re doing than the praise they hope to receive from other people. (Even though the specific actions are different, doesn’t this sound a lot like the social media “influencers” of our time?)

Instead, to receive the real benefits of prayer or fasting, and to receive benefits from your generosity or charity, these things must be done in secret and in private. God will bless these prayers and bless these spiritual disciplines because they are truly being done for Him rather than for other people.

Jesus teaches the people how to pray, stresses the importance of forgiveness, encourages us to value what is truly important, warns us not to try serving two masters at the same time, tells us not to worry or fret, and reminds us that God knows what we need. And then another one of those “life” verses occur — verse 33 — seek God and His kingdom first and “all these things” will be added unto you or given to you.

I haven’t chosen a life verse for myself, but if I had to choose right now, this verse would probably be it. I have tried to live by this principle: seek God first. I take this fairly literally, attempting (although not always succeeding) to have a devotional time first thing in the morning. Before work, before breakfast (sometimes the same time as breakfast!), before showering, before checking email or Facebook or anything like that — I have my quiet time: a time of reading Scripture, praying, meditation, singing, etc. I didn’t always interpret this verse so literally, but I found, through experience, that things simply went better for me when I made the point to seek God first. And having a smoother life is powerful motivation to keep seeking God first thing in the morning. Granted, I’d love it if my motives were a bit less self-centered, but that’s God’s work and it will likely take a lifetime. In the meantime, I’m going to persist in my entirely selfish need to seek God first thing.

God doesn’t call every person to be so literal in their interpretation and application of this verse — don’t think I would criticize you for doing things differently than me! But if you’ve never tried seeking God in the morning, I encourage you to at least give it a try (even if you have to set the alarm earlier to do so).

Some Bible publishers will add headings in Scripture to make it easier for you to find specific stories and passages. In the NASB translation, the editors have added in their description of Psalm 6: “Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.” As you read this psalm today, you may feel far removed from the emotions of the psalmist. “My soul is in deep anguish,” cries David. “How long, LORD, how long?” (v. 3)

I’m not feeling distressed today, but I can remember times when I did feel the way that David describes. The question “how long” haunts us because we can remember times of silence from God. Why we go through times when God seems distant or unconcerned is a mystery and not something that I can deal with in this short meditation.

However, what I like most about this psalm is that it grants us permission to wail and lament. To reach out to God from the depths of worry or despair. And when we are deeply troubled, God is there. God is listening, even when we can’t always perceive it. Consider the final verses of the psalm. Up to this point the psalmist has been praying in the present tense. In the now, David is distressed, in anguish, and worn out from groaning. But as the psalm concludes, the tense changes. Suddenly, we are in past tense: the LORD has heard my weeping, the LORD has heard my prayer. And then present tense again: the LORD accepts my prayer. The psalm concludes with a confident future tense: all my enemies will be overwhelmed and they will turn back and be put to shame.

Father God, I’m so thankful that you are present and listening to me, even when it seems like you are far off. Thank you that I can come to you with whatever trouble or distress I face; I don’t have to come into your presence with a false happiness, trying to sing your praises on a day when I’m grieved in my soul. Thank you that you accept me and love me in Christ Jesus.

Thank you for your Scriptures and for everything you are teaching me. Help me to honor you with my life; help me to seek you and your kingdom first. Father, I marvel at Abram’s obedience to you. I want to be ready to answer your call, so I ask for you to work in my heart and my life to prepare me to do the good works that you have prepared for me to do. I pray these things in your Son’s name, Amen.