Links for today’s readings:
Dec 29 Read: 2 Chronicles 34 Listen: (6:23) Read: Psalms 146-147 Listen: (3:09)
Scripture Focus: 2 Chronicles 34.14-21
14 While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through Moses. 15 Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan. 16 Then Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to him: “Your officials are doing everything that has been committed to them. 17 They have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the supervisors and workers.” 18 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. 19 When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes. 20 He gave these orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 21 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those who have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written in this book.”
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Reflection: What Scripture Reveals
By John Tillman
Truth neglected is often forgotten. Truth forgotten remains true.
Do you remember your times tables? How many digits of pi (𝜋) do you have memorized? How many United States presidents can you name? Can you recite a Shakespearean speech, or a Walt Whitman poem? How many phone numbers do you remember?
From the 1960s through the 1990s, “rote memorization” fell out of favor. Educators emphasized critical thinking and problem solving over retaining facts. Memorization was not abandoned. Facts are the building blocks of critical thinking and problem solving but memorization was de-emphasized. However, the pendulum may swing back. Memorization is making a comeback in some educational areas.
Memorization is an Ai-proof assignment. You can’t have an Ai assistant recite the Gettysburg Address for you. And when great speeches, poems, or sections of the Constitution are memorized, more than rote words are learned. The thinking and logic sinks in.
Memorization fades without reinforcement. However, truths forgotten remain true. Six times seven remains forty-two even if we forget and Hamlet’s speech beginning, “To be or not to be,” in Act 3, Scene 1 remains a profound reflection on death, suffering, and injustice regardless of our inability to recite it from memory. (Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1)
The generations before Josiah neglected, then forgot the scripture. That didn’t stop scripture from being true or his covenant with the people from being binding. God showed mercy based on the people’s response to discovering what was forgotten. Are you discovering things in scripture? How are you responding?
Scripture doesn’t have to be lost for generations for us to discover new things every day. Like Josiah, let discoveries in scripture spur you to action. Discoveries will be sometimes joyous and sometimes convicting. Respond appropriately and experience the mercy of God.
There’s no Ai tool that can hide God’s word in your heart for you. Memorization alone cannot do it either. Scripture requires meditation, reflection, and response. When the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, it isn’t just facts or laws. (John 16.13) Truth is embodied with wisdom, application, and action. (1 John 2.3-6) This is what it means to hide God’s word in your heart.
Scripture contains commands and claims but is not primarily facts to be known or rules to enforce. Scripture’s purpose is revealing the nature of God in Jesus and conforming us to that image through the Holy Spirit.
Read, reflect, and respond to scripture to embody Jesus to those around you.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm
I love you, O Lord my strength, O Lord my stronghold, my crag, and my haven.
My God, my rock in whom I put my trust, my shield, the horn of my salvation and my refuge; you are worthy of praise.
As for God, his ways are perfect; the words of the Lord are tried in the fire; he is a shield to all who trust in him.
For who is God, but the Lord? Who is the Rock, except our God? — Psalm 18.1-2, 31-32
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.
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