Old Testament reading: 2 Samuel 13-14
“For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape…?” (Heb 2:2). 2 Samuel 13 begins God’s retribution upon David for his sin in the matter of Uriah and Bathsheba. David’s son Amnon rapes his half-sister Tamar, and David is angered but does nothing about it (13:21). David’s son Absalom waits a full two years, and exacts revenge on Amnon by killing him. Fearing his father, Absalom flees to Geshur for three years. David, longing to see Absalom, still makes no effort to send for him or let him know he is welcome to come home. David’s house has become a proverbial train wreck, yet this is only the beginning of David’s errors in dealing with this problem.
New Testament reading: Luke 12-13
“Take no thought for your life” (Luke 12:22). Is there any undertaking more worthless than worry? Worse still than its worthlessness, worry is dangerous and detrimental to our health and faith. Jesus illustrates the dangers in Luke 12:22-34. Some are quite pointed, in my mind particularly verses 25-26. Our word “worry” is from the Old English wyrgan, meaning to “seize by the throat” or “strangle.” Pictured is wolf that kills a sheep by locking his jaws on the throat of his prey. This is precisely what worry does to us. It seizes us with fear and leaves us without hope or recourse. Some years ago, a University of Wisconsin study revealed the following about worry: 40% of worries concern things that never happen; 30% of worries concern the inevitable (e.g., death and taxes); 22% of worries are over trivial things or matters of no real consequence; and only 8% of our worries concern things over which we have control. When Jesus said, “Take no thought for your life,” He understood our propensity to be overly concerned with things that are beyond our control. Wasting our time in hand wringing and furrowed brows reveals a lack of faith in both the goodness and providence of God.
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