JMD Devotional 155 Proverbs 30:4 Agur's Riddle
Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if you know?
Around 900BC this riddle had no human answer. It was the kind of thing a person asked to stump everybody; to remind people not to be too wise in their own eyes. Hints and clues from the Torah persuaded the Hebrews that there was to be an answer in the future, and they longed to know it. By 34AD, the answer was obvious to any Christian. Does knowledge come too easy to us today for us to appreciate the significance of it?
1 Peter 1:10-12 (NIV) Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
The knowledge of salvation comes to us with a weighty responsibility. Cloistered in Churches, we tend to forget about the spiritual ignorance next door, and the utter depravity of the human condition estranged from God. Worse, knowledge can be trapped in our mind and not benefit us; it can be cerebral and not heart-felt, recited and not practiced.
Luke 12:48 (NIV) But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Dear God,
Many earnest saints of old longed to know what is now 'common knowledge' in the Church. Forgive us for how lightly we sometimes esteem that revelation and how little we do with that knowledge. It should bring joy, knowing how carefully You planned, crafted and ushered in our--even my-- salvation: break through the numbness and spiritual paralysis so we can fully feel and walk and drink in your blessings. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and rid us of spiritual dryness.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
Around 900BC this riddle had no human answer. It was the kind of thing a person asked to stump everybody; to remind people not to be too wise in their own eyes. Hints and clues from the Torah persuaded the Hebrews that there was to be an answer in the future, and they longed to know it. By 34AD, the answer was obvious to any Christian. Does knowledge come too easy to us today for us to appreciate the significance of it?
1 Peter 1:10-12 (NIV) Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
The knowledge of salvation comes to us with a weighty responsibility. Cloistered in Churches, we tend to forget about the spiritual ignorance next door, and the utter depravity of the human condition estranged from God. Worse, knowledge can be trapped in our mind and not benefit us; it can be cerebral and not heart-felt, recited and not practiced.
Luke 12:48 (NIV) But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Dear God,
Many earnest saints of old longed to know what is now 'common knowledge' in the Church. Forgive us for how lightly we sometimes esteem that revelation and how little we do with that knowledge. It should bring joy, knowing how carefully You planned, crafted and ushered in our--even my-- salvation: break through the numbness and spiritual paralysis so we can fully feel and walk and drink in your blessings. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and rid us of spiritual dryness.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 7:27 PM
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