Psalm 1, 2, 3, 5, 7
Amos 2:6-16
2 Peter 1:1-11
Today’s Psalms continue with the praise of the Lord as they focus on the protection God affords his people against their enemies. The Amos and 2 Peter passages, however, come with a warning. Once more the Bible confronts us with the promises of God and the expectations He has for us.
Despite the seeming contradiction of a promise with conditions, the passages make clear that we get good things when we do good things. Just as God provided protection from enemies and destroyed nations for the safety of His chosen people, His chosen people could just as easily be the target for His punishment when they failed to protect the helpless and needy and became too much like the world around them.
Peter makes it equally clear that the same expectations apply to the followers of Christ, not just Old Testament Jews. When we do not separate ourselves from the world around and cannot be distinguished by our actions are we any different. Persecution continues.
Maybe not in Old Testament overthrow of kingdoms and generations in slavery.
Instead it comes in daily undermining of beliefs and standards.
May God grant us, today, the ability to recognize the firm foundation and resist the erosion that brushes against us daily as we do the good things that merit the good things back from Christ.
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