I'm both glad and sad that this is the last post on the 'Daily Delighting in the Word' blog...
Glad because, although I love reading and praying over God's word each day (and will certainly continue to do so, as faithfully as I am able) sometimes I'm stretched for time or not in the mood to write something for public consumption... I'm sad because I have really enjoyed and benefited from the input of each of the bloggers and others who have contributed and commented and will miss their input. If you are reading this, then I would really like you to comment about how you've found the whole experiment, whether its been helpful to you and what we could have done differently / better (who knows we may well do it again some day). Has it helped you to Daily Delight in the Word?
It is vitally important that we are not only reading God's word, but speaking God's word to each other, and not just minister to person on a Sunday but person to person, at every opportunity. This blog has been another occasion to do just that and I'm always excited and encouraged to hear the insights and challenges from God's word that all of you bring to me, and to each other.
As I read Micah chapter 7 I am struck by the prophets understanding of his own peoples sin as the cause of their current situation, and his hope and expectation for salvation and vindication over his enemies (v9). This all boils down to understanding God's character. Verses 18-20 spell out God's merciful nature which is the basis for his hope. The Old and New Testaments aren't opposed to each other - they are both about the grace and mercy of God calling people to himself and forgiving them. We need to know that God is angry with sin - he is very angry and can't tolerate it at all! Micah experiences this as he sees the Assyrians conquering Israel (northern kingdom) and nearly conquering Judah (southern kingdom), on the other hand we experience the general fallenness in our world and look ahead to the day of judgement where God's anger will be poured out. But Micah also knows that God will not stay angry forever, since he delights to show mercy. We know that Micah was looking forward to the cross of Jesus, where God's wrath and mercy meet, his judgement is poured out on his own son, so that mercy might be shown to you and me. O, what a great God we have, who delights to show mercy!
1 Peter finishes with an exhortation to humility and a call to stand firm in the faith. It's important to note that humility and submission aren't just attitudes that apply to younger, or female people (though they seem to apply particularly to those people at various times in the scriptures) but to 'all of you ... to one another' (1 Peter 5:5). Humility challenges me, because it helpfully puts me in my place and reminds me to be a servant to others - but it's tough...
For an interesting historical video on humility and the way this vice was transformed into a virtue by the Christian message, see here:
https://publicchristianity.org/library/humility.
Ben Boardman (Assistant Minister)
Tomorrows Readings: What will you be reading tomorrow?
Choose a book of the Bible to work through, grab a bible reading guide from our church bookstall, follow a Bible reading plan (you could check out these, or this one, or this one). Maybe you could choose to do the same thing with your spouse or bible study group or a friend, so you can talk about what your reading? The possibilities are limitless. Let's be daily delighting in the Word, for in it we find not only understanding for life, but indeed life itself, through our Saviour Jesus Christ!
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