Yesterday we saw that providing opportunities for work is one of the best ways to help those who are in need. Today, we see the equal importance of family support, in a passage that will be applied directly in the Book of Ruth. But as with yesterday’s passage, we shouldn’t…

How are Christians called to help the poor? In Moses’ time, children without fathers and older women without husbands had no one to care for them. And sojourners were by definition people without roots in the community, without homes or land. And in an agricultural society, if you had no…

It always hurts to say goodbye to those you love, whether it be sending a child off to college, a friend to a job opportunity in another state, or a grandparent to a nursing home. And sometimes we have to release a loved one to death itself. How do we…

Have you ever been disappointed in someone you loved? Have you ever noticed a sin in someone’s life that was eating him up? After the events of today’s passage, that was certainly true for Jonathan. Sure, he knew about his father’s tendency to lose his temper. But he kept on…

What does it mean to really love a friend? As we saw yesterday, true love means more than just warm feelings toward others, or even wishing that good things would happen to them. True love is willing to do whatever it takes to bless the beloved, regardless of the cost…

What is true love? The Romantics told us that it is nothing more than a feeling of great affection, of intense desire for someone. But this definition of love substitutes a part for the whole. For while love does involve passion, it is mainly concerned not with the feelings of…

Bible Reading for July 30 – I Samuel 18:20-30 What do you do when someone’s out to get you? Oh, it may not be as dramatic as Saul trying to kill David. Maybe it’s a coworker who is jealous of your abilities. Maybe it’s a rival or competitor in business…

Transitions are never easy. As the baby boom generation is quickly aging out of the workforce, all sorts of institutions from corporations to congregations are dealing with the challenges of finding new leadership. So, how should yesterday’s leaders respond to those who replace them? And how should new leaders treat…

Bible Reading for July 27 – Matthew 7:24-29 What does it mean to be truly wise? Unfortunately in our Western mindset, we tend to think of wisdom in exclusively intellectual terms. The wise, we think, are those who know a lot, those who have deep understanding, those who are not…

“Ask and it will be given to you.” Does this mean that if we have enough faith God will give each of us a Cadillac? Does this mean the “name-it-and-claim-it” preachers of the prosperity gospel are right? Well, they’re not completely wrong. Look at verse 11, where Jesus compares God…