Scripture Readings
Proverbs 29:1
II Chronicles 1–2
John 4
Psalms 140
Verse Focus (Proverbs 29:1)
Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes
will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.
Meditation
Placeholder for the November 20 meditation … to be updated as soon as possible.
Today I’m grateful for audiobooks. I love to read, and listening to a story makes commuting not only bearable but actually enjoyable. It redeems the time. I’m thankful for my friend Lynn who persuaded me to try audiobooks some years back. I’d been doubtful because I’d had trouble in the past listening to papers being read out loud. But she was right, and it turns out I have no issues with tempo. I have an errand today that will keep me in the car for a bit, and I’m grateful to have a new audiobook to start “reading.” And I’m also thankful for libraries that keep good inventories of audiobooks for readers to enjoy. Happy Saturday, everyone!
In reading John 4, I noticed how clearly the Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman, at the well. He did not speak in parables, as He often did with others. He treated her respectfully and spoke to her, knowing she was an intelligent woman. Not only was this unusual, in those times, for a man to speak to a woman, but especially for a man known to be a teacher, a learned leader in the temple, to talk with a woman just as if she were a fellow man. For this woman especially, due to her marriage history and currently living with a man she wasn’t married to, she likely was unused to respect from anyone. I’ve heard, in sermons, that she was likely ostracized by the community, as she didn’t go to the well with the other town’s women, in the morning. Rather she went later, when it was hotter, and there she met the Messiah. It is beautiful to see the Lord treat her, not thru societal norms, but as a Father, talking to His daughter. It is also beautiful to see how she carries the message of Messianic salvation back to the townspeople who likely ostracized her. Jesus knew she would not bear grudges, but that her open heart would burst to tell the Good News. May I be the same.