Day 38 One-Year Daily Bible Reading – Exodus 26:1-27:21; Matthew 25:1-30; Psalm 31:1-8; Proverbs 8:1-11
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Secret Places
And thou shalt hang up the veil under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the veil the ark of the testimony: and the veil shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy. – Exodus 26:33
This passage reminds me that because of the price Jesus paid on the cross, there are secret places with the Lord, available to those who seek Him.
Pure Oil
And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. – Exodus 27:20
There was a pure oil that burned and brought Light that was to never go out. Oil the symbol of the Holy Ghost. God charges us to remain faithful and diligent to “keep the lamp burning.” As those who are to be reflections of His light (light-bearers), we are only able to do God’s work through the power and strength granted by the Holy Ghost, who lives within and fills them.
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Watch Therefore (Parable – The Ten Virgins)
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. – Matthew 25:1-13
Everyone that Hath Shall Be Given, and He Shall Have in Abundance (Parable – The Talents)
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his Lord’s money. After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 25:14-30
Stewardship is important to Jesus. How I handle what He’s given to me matters. The servants who stewarded well received back more and was entrusted with more. We all have a calling in our lives. You have one and I have one. What I do with my calling, my purpose, my life. What I do with my gifts matter. We have been given freedom to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ; we have been given the opportunity to reflect Jesus along our way. How are we doing with that? How am I? it matters to the Master.
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Be Thou My Strong Rock
In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; Let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: Be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. – Psalm 31:1-2
Hesed
I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities; – Psalms 31:7
David rejoiced in God’s lovingkindness. His Hesed. He has joy because he knows that God has seen his affliction and has known his troubles. God knows our troubles too. Not only because He knows all things, but because He came to earth as a man and lived and endured all the things we endure. He suffered loneliness, rejection, pain, sickness, hunger, abuse, torture, and even death. He experienced the utter sorrow of being cut off from God’s love. But these things happened so that we would have a perfect High Priest who understood our sufferings. Those sufferings brought us to God, that we may live with Him eternally.
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Wisdom is Better than Rubies
For my mouth shall speak truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; There is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, And right to them that find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver; And knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. – Proverbs 8:7-11
I can desire many things – houses, land, relationships, riches, gifts, easy life, peace. But the best thing I can ever desire is WISDOM. The Word tells me here that nothing compares to it.
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A Few More Thoughts and Prayer
In yesterday’s reading of the Old Testament, God told Moses to come up to the mountain. He was going to give Moses His commandments, laws, and judgments. The Bible says, “that he had written.” Now, I don’t know whether He wrote it out by His hand or said that figuratively as, “I have written,” but then He had Moses write it out, I don’t know.
Looking at the Scripture today, we are right in the middle of God giving out those laws and judgments. He also gives the details of He wants the Tabernacle built and furnished. There are so many details, and God is particular about His laws and His Tabernacle and everything attached to it. How could anyone ever remember all of these instructions other than for God to have written it down? There is only one other way.
I believe it’s in John 15 that says when the Holy Ghost or the Comforter comes, He will teach us all things, and He will bring all things to our remembrance. ALL THINGS! It could only be God – the Holy Ghost – with Moses that day and in the days to come as he’s teaching all of this to the children of Israel.
It’s incredible to look at all that the Holy Ghost did through Moses. If He could do that then, He can still do it today. What could He do in this world if we yielded to His voice, His presence, and His Word? What if we got ourselves up into the mountain of God for 40 days and 40 nights so that He could speak to us, share His heart with us, and teach us?
In our reading from Proverbs, the writer speaks of wisdom, knowledge, and instruction. These verses say that instruction is better than silver, knowledge better than gold…and wisdom was to be desired more than all the things that could be desired. Nothing we have or want can be compared to Godly wisdom.
Heavenly Father, we come before You today and thank You for Your instruction! We thank You for the details. How You were in all the details of the children of Israel’s lives and how You are in the details of ours. Thank You for caring for our details. I pray God that You give each of us wisdom. I pray God that You give each of us instruction. Please help us to yield to your instruction. I pray God that You give us increasing knowledge. We thank You in advance because we know that this is Your will that we have instruction, knowledge, and wisdom. We love You. Lord. We love You, and we honor You. We lift your name high. Above all other names, Jesus! We lift You high and give You all the glory, honor, and praise. And we ask this and declare this all in Jesus’ holy and precious name.
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