A Foundation of Rock

Blessed are the undefiled in the way,

Who walk in the law of the Lord!

Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,

Who seek Him with the whole heart!

They also do no iniquity;

They walk in His ways.

You have commanded us

To keep Your precepts diligently.

-Psalm 119:1-4

Jesus ends His Sermon on the Mount with these words, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.  .  .  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.”  The NASB translates “sayings” as “words”.  We often trivialize these last words of Jesus’ sermon because we remember them as a cute, little Sunday School song.  “The wise man built his house upon the rock and the rains came tumbling down.  .  .”  But Jesus calls us to do more than just hear His Words; He is calls us to DO His Words.  We are called to keep His precepts diligently and by keeping them we are likened to wise men who build their houses upon rock.  A house built on a foundation of rock will stand firm in times of storm and stress.  A house built on a foundation of rock is blessed.

“And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”  As we read God’s Word, are we astonished at His teaching?  Do we realize that He speaks as One having authority?  Do we seek to glean from His Word and to walk diligently in His ways?  We must ask ourselves these questions and answer them honestly if we are to be called wise men.

Not by Bread Alone

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be frontlets between your eyes.

-Deuteronomy 6:5-8

Matthew 4 recounts the story of Jesus’ time in the wilderness.  He had just been baptized and the Spirit of the Lord led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  When Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He was hungry and the tempter came to Him telling Him to command the stones to become bread.  Jesus answers by quoting Scripture, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” 

Jesus takes this Scripture from Deuteronomy 8:3, “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”  In Deuteronomy 8 Moses reminds the people of what God has done for them and exhorts them to keep His commandments.  Verse 6 reads, “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.”

We are not just to know and keep His commandments for ourselves, but also for our children.  We are to know His Word so intimately that it is in our heart.  We are to teach His Word diligently to our children.  It is to become such a part of us that we talk of it throughout our day, when we sit, when we walk, when we lie down, and when we rise up.  His Word is to become a familiar part of our lives. 

This leads me to another goal that I have for this blog.  I want to share insights that I have gleaned in my life as a wife, mother, and homeschool teacher.  When I first began homeschooling 17 years ago, I heard a tape in which the speaker exhorted us as homeschoolers to always put the Word of God first in our homeschooling.  I took this advice to heart and began most school days by reading His Word with my children.  (I would like to say that we began every day with God’s Word, but I must honestly admit that we began most days with His Word.) 

One guide I have used in these daily readings of God’s Word is the Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament History.  This guide leads you and your children through the historical books of the Old Testament.  I have read through these history books many times with my children and every time we glean new insights and remember details that we have forgotten. 

My children have gained spiritually from this daily reading of God’s Word.  God says, “My Word will not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”  The importance of God’s Word is the most crucial insight that I have gained in my homeschooling journey.  I strongly encourage you to make the daily reading of God’s Word a priority in your family.

Matthew 1

The gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.  The striking feature of this list is the four women it includes.  The first woman listed is Tamar, a woman who used an extreme and shocking method to conceive and bear her child Perez.  (Read the story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38.)  Next named is Rahab, a harlot from the city of Jericho.  Ruth and Bathsheba are also recorded.  Ruth came from the country of Moab and was not one of God’s chosen people.  Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah when she committed adultery with David. 

The previous characters of these women make them unlikely candidates for the genealogy of the Lord Jesus.  To mention them within a Biblical genealogy list seems even more incredible.  I am struck by the thought of a gracious God who uses sinners to accomplish His will.  One who even gives recognition to those sinners.  He Himself will give a sign.  In a way it seems as if He is above such things, and yet He does them for our sakes, for the sake of sinners who often fail to acknowledge Him in everyday life.  Our reaction ought to be one of gratitude and worship. 

The Law of the Lord is Perfect

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover by them Your servant is warned,

And in keeping them there is great reward.

-Psalm 19:7-11

In our world today, it seems that the Lord and His Word have often become an afterthought.  And yet His Word makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, and enlightens the eyes.  His Word is true and righteous and to be more desired than much fine gold.  Reading and meditating on His Word brings great reward. 

Recently I heard a speaker asked about his amazing method for reading God’s Word.   James M. Tour, a synthetic organic chemist, said that his method wasn’t so amazing.  “I always start reading in Genesis chapter 1 and then continue through Revelation chapter 22, and when I am done, I start again. I don’t read rapidly. In fact, I read the Bible slowly and deliberately. It can take 2-3 years for me to complete the Bible at the daily pace that I read. But that’s just fine with me, and I suspect it’s also okay with God. God speaks to me almost every day from the pages of that book.”

Sometimes we want to make reading God’s Word a weary task.  We seek the best Bible study and are many times disappointed with our choice.  We stop and start and falter.  The method Dr. Tour uses seems too simple.  But this simplicity is the key to reading and benefiting from God’s Word on a daily basis.   So part of my objective in this blog will be reading slowly and deliberately through God’s Word and recording some of my thoughts.  I will begin in Matthew 1.