Thursday 2 June

2 Samuel 2:8-3:21

There’s not much mention of God in this passage.  These history books like the Samuels often just narrate events with limited editorial comment.  But verdicts on certain behaviours are exposed as events unfold.  So the splitting of Israel (sometimes referred to as Benjamin) from Judah is shown to be an act of defiance against God.  Abner knows that the Lord promised to rip the kingdom from the house of Saul but he rejects the Lord’s way and enthrones Saul’s son.  Abner puts his own interests - the securing of his own power base - above the word of the Lord.  And Israel, which was birthed in rebellion, goes on to live as it was born, rejecting the word of God and choosing to live in a way that it thinks will fare it better.  Equally we see David beginning to sow dischord and difficulty into his family through his obsession with taking on more and more wives.  Six sons through six women and with an eye for further conquests.  It was clear in Genesis that one man with one woman was the way the Lord intended.  But David loses sight of that and begins to heap up trouble for himself.  And the writer of this history mercilessly exposes David’s folly and sin as his life goes on.  He murders Uriah to acquire Bathsheba and his sons explode any semblance of family unity.  So maybe we could conclude from this that you reap what you sow.  That God can’t be mocked and the consequences for disregarding him are unavoidable and real.  It is true that forgiveness is available and we live under grace but we also need to watch how we live.  God has got such riches for us, let us not squander them.

John 21:1-25

We saw a couple of days ago that Peter wasn’t a very good runner (John beat him to the empty tomb).  Today we see that he was a truly rubbish swimmer; he put on his coat before he jumped in the water (what was he thinking??) and was unable to swim to shore faster than a heavy-laden boat towing a net full of fish.  He also didn’t seem to be much of a fisherman.  But Peter died in a way that glorified God.  And, of all the things that he’d want said about himself, surely that would come way above anything about his physical prowess or technical skill.  Jesus didn’t really seem to care much about those things either.  All he wanted to know about was how much Peter could love.  I think sometimes I lose sight of that.  I get a bit focussed on perfecting skills and extending knowledge but Jesus just keeps saying to me “take care of my sheep”.  He says the same to all of us, I think.  Just love.  Do the rest but don’t stress it.  Don’t worry if you are rubbish at it.  Just love people and help them grow in him.  And if we do that then we may also have the incredible privilege of dying in a way that glorifies him.  I know that is what I want more than anything.  Well, more than anything except for beating my brother in a race.  Now that would be really cool...

Psalm 69:1-12

This is really prophetic stuff, but it is also a bit miserable.  I find it hilarious that it is set to a tune as jolly and pretty sounding as “lilies”.  Maybe it was intentionally ironic.