Bible Commentary - Word&Way

Bible Commentary

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We clearly hear that God's answer to our spiritual blindness and self-centered perspective appears in our world as the child of an obscure descendant of King David. He is celebrated by an older cousin who also bears a son, who will announce the arrival of God's promised Savior.

Mary has been described as the mother of God, a co-redemptress, sinless, and the womb of God's grace. None of those exalted titles captures the humility, tensions, fears, and incredible spiritual strength of this woman.

Heaven is not that place where we get the big house and the wealth of Solomon. Heaven is that place where we will live in the healing, nurture, and undimmed beauty of God's love.

We who describe ourselves as “God's sheep” should remember there is some “goat” in us all. Our calling is not to become superior to others but to be loving, like our Savior. That involves a lifetime of learning and growing.

The bottom line today is the same as in Isaiah and Daniel's day: will you trust God in this troubled world? The years in this world cannot compare to eternity. Dying with the most toys is not winning.

Job asks a lot of questions, endures the shallow judgments and worn platitudes of his contemporaries – and ends up discovering that God has more surprises and blessings than we can begin to understand!

How did Solomon's splendid temple and the key worship practices of Israel fade from their culture? Gradually – through indifference, preoccupation, or fading memories of the past – the people replaced faith in God with the common goals of the world.

We look back at the days of Solomon and those who followed him as a time of selfish choices and spiritual ignorance among God's “chosen” people. But what about us? Are we really any different?

It is human nature to want God in a tangible form, to mark a place where we can sense God is present – something that connects us to God's promises.

Like Solomon we are aware of God's promises and his call for us to be a different kind of people who will love him and live out his grace. Will we trust God in these difficult times