Friendship

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Consider: What does being a good friend mean to you?

Bible Reading:  Job 6:1-30

Insight: I don’t know what sort of friends you have or what sort of a friend you are to others but Job is not particularly impressed with his friends right now.

Job responds to Eliphaz’ trite remarks and asks that his friends consider his feelings and words against the size of the calamity that he has faced before they make any judgements about him. He has a heavy heart and they should make allowances for his rash talk spoken in such circumstances. The loss of his family, servants and cattle are like poison arrows and the poison is seeping throughout his body causing more heartache and worry.

Eliphaz had suggested that there was the possibility that, if he asked God, Job would be restored but he rejects this idea. There is nothing Job wants more than to have not been born, failing that an early death would be preferable to the loss of all that he had. As both have not happened, Job declares that dying soon would be his wish. Like a weaver that cuts his material from a loom, thread by thread until it is free, Job asks that God would bit by bit take his life until he is free from further pain but God has not responded so far.

Job goes on to express his frustration with his friends. They should have come to express their sympathy but instead they have come in self-righteousness and presented him with arguments about why he has suffered. Job likens his friends to streams that dry up in the summer and overflow in the winter, they are useless for watering the land or growing crops. They bring great expectation but are ultimately a big disappointment. They may have been afraid of expressing their sympathy and getting too involved in case tragedy started to happen to them too; but Job wants to know why they came then. He didn’t ask them to come but when they did he expected their compassion.

Job is willing to listen to his friends advice, if they have anything sensible to say. Eliphaz has accused Job of having some hidden sin and he challenges his friends to identify what it might be. He is so disgusted with his friends that he accuses them of being the type of people that would draw straws to see who would make a slave of the children of someone that owed them money.

If only these friends would look at Job straight in the eye they would see that he is honest, true and blameless. Job has a definite idea of what a friend is – someone who shows unwavering faithfulness, who is there through the thick and thin and who shows love even when it is undeserved or has been forfeit. Job would believe that to fail at friendship is to fail in your submission to God.

Pause: Stop and listen to the voice of God, don’t rush on.

Picture: Is there a picture in scripture or in the world around you that helps?

Ponder: Think more deeply. what else does this relate to and what else does scripture say?

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39)

Pray: Spend time in conversation with God; be completely honest and open.

Promise: Decide what needs to change, commit to it and consider writing it in your journal.

Further Reading: John Goldingay, Job for Everyone.

The creation story as a historical parable

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Memory verse: Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. (Genesis 2:1)

Consider: Have you ever bought a book and never read it?

Bible Reading: Genesis 2:4a

Insight: If the author of Genesis had written a detailed scientific thesis of the creation of the world would you have read it? I’m not sure that I would have done. Instead the author says “It happened like this. Imagine that God was like a man who went to work, he spent three days working out the outline of his project and three more days filling in the details until it was completed and then on the last day, he rested.”

The creation story is not a myth, neither is it a documentary script. It is an illustrative story that holds a biblical truth. We have no need to reconcile creation with evolution, to do so misses the point. It is a picture that has been created to help people understand aspects of creation: that God took darkness and made light, that He took chaos and made order, that God made the sky and the seas, the plants and the animals and he also made us.

Jesus told lots of parables. Some parables were about things that could have happened, some were about things that had happened and some were about things that were to happen. The story we have been reading over the past few days has been like this. Designed to explain to us that God made humans to live in harmony, to represent God in the world and to work and care for everything that he had made.

Over the next few days we will read another version of the creation story. Keeping in mind that they are two complementary parables will help us to find the truth within the words and not get distracted by any discrepancies.

Tell Us: Do you have any stories, rhymes or sayings that help you explain complicated ideas?

Do you have a favoured way of explaining the Gospel to others? What it is?

Prayer Ideas: Thank God that though He is so marvellous, all-knowing and almighty, he speaks to us in ways that we can understand. Say sorry to God if you have ever made His word more complicated than it needs to be. Pray for farmers and fishermen and others that depend on the land or sea for their living. Ask that you would keep things simple, take joy in the stories of the Bible and have faith like a child.

Do: Spend some time in worship in worship today. You might find the following video inspirational.

Further Reading: John Goldingay, Genesis for Everyone Part 1.

Saturday

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Memory verse: for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:10)

Consider: When was the last time you got to the end of the week and were satisfied with everything that you had achieved?

Bible Reading: Genesis 1:31-2:3

Insight:

Is this how we see our week? That it is a struggle to get through and a relief to get to the weekend? With God it is different. He is able to sit back in satisfaction, reflect on all that he has made and be very pleased indeed.

Then God stopped work. He didn’t rest because he was tired, he simply stopped working because creation was complete. He had been working for six days and saw the next day as worthy of something different. He chose to then mark the seventh day as special and holy, perhaps in a kind of celebration. He blesses or perhaps more accurately praises it.

At this stage God doesn’t say anything about humans observing the Sabbath, in fact, it is not until the Israelites have left Egypt that they begin to do so. But it is this pattern of working for six days and stopping for one day that is another distinguishing behaviour that made the Israelites stand out. Eventually people who observed the Sabbath became known as those who were close to God.

Today, as we live in a 24/7 economy, the Sabbath takes on a new significance. Students work very hard, studying and working all hours to get the grades they desire while workers are asked to take on extra shifts, overtime and come in at weekends. Soon the only days we have ‘off’ we tend to fill up and run around doing all those jobs that we can’t get done during the week. Without a ‘stopping day’ we are soon exhausted, depressed and ill.

Tell Us: How busy are you?

Do you take time out to stop working? How do you relax?

How might you ‘rest in God’?

Prayer Ideas: Thank God that he has given us a pattern for sensible working. Repent for the times that you have over-worked and not taken time to stop and rest. Pray for anyone you know that is studying or working, that they will find satisfaction in the work that they are doing. Ask that your work this week would bring glory to God.

Do: Commit to make one day each week a ‘stopping day’. Take time that day to ‘rest in God’.

Further Reading: John Goldingay, Genesis for Everyone Part 1.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

God creating the Sun, Moon and Earth, Michelangelo, from the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Memory verse: “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, (Job 38:8) 

Consider: Do you have a favourite plant or flower? What is it you like about it and why?

Bible Reading: Genesis 1:6-19

Insight: On the second day God makes the atmosphere. The word used here means ‘to beat out’. It is as if God pushed back the waters to create a dome around the world in which to contain the mist and the rain. It is sometimes referred to as the firmament because it is firm, durable and its weight on the earth keeps the sea waters in their place. The atmosphere is referred to as ‘the heavens’ ‘the heights’ or ‘sky’.

On the third day dry land began to form. Scientists might argue that the core of the earth began to move and its crust began to rise up and form mountains causing valleys to become deeper and the waters to gather together in oceans and seas. This isn’t a science lesson though, its to remind the Israelites and us that God has ultimate control over the elements.

Next, God declares that the earth should have grasses, herbs and fruit trees and all were created in an orderly manner, each with the ability to reproduce inside them. God looked at what he has created and was satisfied that the world will be able to bear life.

On the forth day God made the sun, the moon and the stars. He gathered the light into two and gave them permanently to the earth to determine the years, seasons and days.

Tell Us: God said and it was so. What does this tell us about God’s word?

Prayer Ideas: Praise God for his creation and the way he has built a world that is perfect for humans to live and thrive. Repent for yourself and others about the way that we are polluting the waters of earth. Ask that your non-Christian friends would soon personally know the God who created them. Ask God to highlight ways in which you can care for the environment better.

Do: Use your phone to take a photograph of a favourite or interesting plant, flower or tree today. Post it on our Facebook page.

Further Reading: John Goldingay, Genesis for Everyone Part 1.

Sunday

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Memory verse: Like birds hovering overhead, the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.” (Isaiah 31:5)

Consider: What words have you used this week? Were they negative words or positive?

Bible Reading: Genesis 1:2-5

Insight: The Bible starts and ends with the world. At the end of Revelation we read about a new heaven and a new earth that will be created but today we are reminded of how God miraculously begins the transformation of an empty ‘wasteland’ into a fully formed and beautiful cosmos.

The Spirit of God hovers over the waters a bit like a mother bird brooding over her eggs or her young. The word Spirit can also be translated as breath or wind. It was the breath of God that gave life to the world and the wind in all its power that gave the world form.

This passage in Genesis reminds us that God created clarity out of disorder and light out of darkness as he continues to do today. We don’t know what the light was exactly as he doesn’t create the sun and stars until later but what is impressive is that God said “Light” and the darkness was pushed away. God just spoke and light came into being!

We don’t know exactly how long it took God to form the world and there are a two theories that people have. The first theory is that each day of creation represents 24 hours. The other theory is that each day represents a period of time – perhaps even millions of years. Either way, it is more striking to me to consider how the world was made. It was made in an orderly and methodical manner, exactly in the order that God wanted it to be made and to the exact specification that He commanded.

Tell Us: Why you think ‘there was evening and there was morning’ in that order?

Prayer Ideas: If it is safe to do so, light a candle as you pray today. Thank God for the light. Repent of the words you have used to bring others down. Do you have a friend whose life is in disorder? Ask God if there is something He wants you to say them. Is there any darkness or confusion in your own life? Ask God to bring light and clarity to your situation.

Do: God’s breath gives life, it gave life to you. God’s breath is in you and you have the power to speak words of disorder or words of clarity, words of darkness or words of light to others. Who will you speak words of light to today?

Further Reading: John Goldingay, Genesis for Everyone Part 1.

Welcome

KJV Bible (Photo credit: knowhimonline)

Welcome to the 2:52 Challenge Daily Bible Reading.

Every day, from 2 September 2013, we will post a short reading that will link to some of our other activities. There will be a short passage from the Bible from you to read, a daily memory verse and questions to reflect on.

Please use the comment feature to share your thoughts with others. The more you join in and interact with this Daily Bible Reading, the more points you get towards completing your 2:52 Challenge.