23 May 2010
Psalm 148, 149, 150; Prov. 9:1-12 ; Acts 8:14-25; Luke 10:25-28, 38-42

Lay aside immaturity and live and walk in the way of insight. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. If we would grow up to maturity and become truly wise, we would set our lives on gaining knowledge of God. It only makes sense actually. If there is a God who created all things then true knowledge is not in knowing about all things, it is in the knowledge of God if such knowledge is possible. It isn’t wrong to know about all things but the higher knowledge is the knowledge of the One who created them all. What we know is that He wants to be known and has chosen, in Jesus Christ, to make Himself known as the Word made flesh, the fulfillment of the Word made known to and through Moses, the prophets, and others.

Both the stories in the Gospel have the same message. The lawyer wants to know how to inherit eternal life and is told to know God, by loving Him with all that is within you. Martha wants Mary to help her in serving the guests but Jesus tells her that Mary has chosen the better part, sitting at His feet learning. His comment that there is only one thing needed and that Martha is distracted by many things is instructive for us. Are we focused on that one thing that is necessary? We tend to be very distracted and there is a cost to that distraction. We keep ourselves from that which gives us life. This is a message that Jesus preached constantly, from Matthew 6, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you,” to the Last Supper when He told the disciples that they were to abide in Him.

Peter and John go out to Samaria to complete the work that was begun by Philip’s evangelism. The work was actually begun by Jesus and Peter and John were witnesses. John tells the story in the fourth chapter of his Gospel. The Samaritans were those who believed that they were the true Israel, worshiping in the right place. Jesus told the woman that salvation is from the Jews, a statement that had the potential to be a deal-breaker for her and her people, but in Jesus they saw something that allowed them to accept this hard truth. They were prepared for the harvest that would come and here the apostles see that harvest for which they did not work but are allowed to participate in the reaping. Simon wants some of what he perceives to be magic for his own benefit and Peter rebukes him strongly. We don’t need magic, we need mature wisdom, we need the Lord.

Praise the LORD!Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!